Las Vegas baby!
by KatieIvashkov
Summary: Read what happens when Sydney's best friend Rose brings her to Las Vegas to celebrate her 21th birthday. Will it be a trip to remember or one to forget? (Sydrian, all humans)
1. The awakening

_**Hey guys, my name is Katie and I'm new in this website. I love to read fanfictions that's why this time I decided to write my own. This is my first fanfic, I just hope you will like it.**_

 _ **Don't hesitate to review and send PM messages.**_

 _ **PS : English is not my native language, so I apologize if there are some mistakes...**_

Sydney's POV

"Come on Sydney, it's your 21st birthday, have some fun for once. Relax, you're always so much tense. Tonight you're going to get wasted and maybe even laid. It is finally time to change your virgin status." said Rose laughing, when she ordered more shots of tequila.

God, why did I listen to her? I should have stayed home with my family, at least I wouldn't have find myself in this awkward situation.

I woke up with a dreadful headache, lying on a bed, with a heavy bare arm around my waist. Wait…? How the hell did I find myself in here? I tried to remember what happened but in vain, my mind was too blurred. Besides, I was feeling dizzy and my mouth was dry. I closed my eyes to appease the pain.

Even though I've never had any, I'm pretty sure these were the symptoms of a hangover. Great, all of this thanks to Rose, my best friend and her cousin's Lissa who came with this amazing idea of bringing me to Las Vegas, "the city of sin" in order to "pervert the little saint that I was and celebrate my 21st birthday". Those were their words not mine.

Rose was in a way my complete opposite, both physically and mentally, and I wondered sometimes how we ended up becoming friends. While I was a thin girl with no curves, blue eyes and blond hair, she was the perfect "bimbo" (physically speaking) with long black hair, brown eyes and a body that makes guys drool every time she walked. She was confident, flirtatious and shameless, while I was extremely shy, earnest and felt uncomfortable with myself. However quite by chance, we managed to become friends in junior high school, when we were assigned a group paper.

Feeling a little less vertiginous, I opened my eyes again and cast a glance at myself. Okay...I was lying on a bed practically naked except for the black laced shorty panty that Rose bought me and insisted that I put on, with its matching bra which by the way disappeared mysteriously with the rest of my clothes. Lying by me side was God knows who, with his arm around my waist, his chest on my back and his legs entangled to mine. Don't freak out Sydney, you still have your panties on, maybe nothing too...intimate happened. Or maybe not...because by the heat that came from his body, I could say that the person near me wasn't very dressed either. Please God, tell me that he has at least his panties on too.

Showing bravery, I tried to turn over to see my "bed stranger companion". As I started to squirm, he sighed and tightened his grasp. Great! Oh, and by what I was feeling on my back, it wasn't the only thing that was tightening...at least one of us was happy about this situation. *Reminder to myself: don't forget to kill Rosemarie Hathaway next time you will see her.*

Feeling trapped, I was going to push this arm from my body when a deep, sleepy and hoarse kind of sexy voice said "Good morning Sage, trying to go somewhere?". Don't freak out Sydney...take a deep breath...

No way, how can I not freak out? He called me by my freaking LAST name !

How the hell does he know it? I don't even know his first name.

Oh crap, I'm in a right mess...


	2. The surprise

After what felt like hours, I finally managed to stammer something absolutely witty: "I...I...need to go to the bathroom."

As if I knew where the bathroom was. Hell, I didn't even know where **I** was. By the surroundings it was probably the guy's hotel room, because wow, mine wasn't that good. From what I've seen in movies and read in books, this one was probably the penthouse suite. At least I hadn't fallen into a poor guy's bed... [Not very helping Sydney...]

He still wasn't moving, so I said again: "I need to..."

"Oh! Yes sorry! It's on your left" he answered chuckling and at last detaching himself from me.

I stood up and tried to find something to cover my boobs when I started feeling queasy. [Not good!] I rushed to the left seeking for the bathroom, and arrived just in time to throw up my guts in a "very hot way." Yeah that's definitely a hangover!

I don't know how much time I stayed like that, until I felt a hot hand on my shoulder and realized that my hair was being hold. "Are you okay" said my male stranger. I immediately folded my arms to try to hide my breasts, one of the advantages to have small breasts. A low belly laugh came from him and he said "come on, you don't have to hide yourself from me, I like what I see".

"Yeah I'm sure seeing a pathetic girl puking is super hot". I mumbled.

I turned around and I finally took a look at him. Oh my... The guy was ridiculously good-looking. He was tall, with muscled shaped leg that led to thank God white silk boxers [silk white panties? Not that I am an expert in guys's underwear but I'm pretty sure, that is a particular choice. Well afterall, I guess he can afford it, judging by his room…]

The boxers seemed to be well filled [seriously Sydney? A little attention here]. I looked up and went on, on my "exploration"... He also had a very well-defined chest continuing into perfect shoulders and strong arms; the guy took care of himself that's for sure. With a body like that he looked like the perfect underwear model. However, what stroke me the most was his face. He had a perfect jawline, high cheeks covered with a one-day growth, full lips pressed in a smug smile, (he knew I was leering him), short dark-brown hair and...emerald-green eyes emphasized by long lashed, in which you could lose yourself.

He was the most beautiful male specimen I've ever seen, I still have difficulties to comprehend how a girl like me ended up almost naked in a bed with a guy like that. Speaking of almost naked, that reminded me that I was actually still standing in front of him only in my panties. Turning my head I saw a towel and grabbed it around me.

"Are you feeling better now?" he said grinning. I didn't know if he was talking about my sickness or the fact that I was a minimum covered.

"Um...yes much better thank you, I'll just refresh myself a bit, if you could go out please." I responded, waving my hands towards the door.

"Ah, yes, no problem, Miss Sage." he replied and made a bow before closing the door behind him. I couldn't help but laugh. At first sight he looked nice, and at least he didn't freak out, that's a good thing.

I was opening the faucet to put some water on my face when I noticed something shining on my left hand. I drew it closer and that's when I noticed it...a ring…

I had a diamond ring on my ring finger that I'm pretty sure wasn't there before…

I blinked twice, thinking that my mind was probably still fuzzy, but it didn't go away…

Holy shit, what could have I possibility done yesterday night?


	3. The discovery

_**Hey**_ _ **guys,**_

 _ **so this chapter is a little bit longer, but usually I think I will favor short chapters because there are easier to write, and it allows me to update more often.**_

Adrian's POV

I heard a scream and rushed immediately to the bathroom, not caring about knocking at the door.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, worried. Sydney was holding herself to the furniture as if she was about to fall at any moment. She also looked very pale. Her gorgeous blond hair were in a mess, her eyes were a deep-blue and the small amount of make-up that she had put on last night, was fading. I was walking carefully towards her when she stopped me.

"Don't..." her voice was only a whisper.

"Sydney I'm starting to be worried here, what is going on?" I replied, trying to stay calm.

"What is this?" she said, shaking her left hand and pointing to her finger.

"Well I'm pretty sure it's a ring. To be exact it's an 18 carat diamond ring from Cartier." I answered confused by her question.

"Are you kidding me?!" she yelled. She looked very pissed but that was kind of hot coming from her.

I stared hungrily at her. The towel was small and barely covered her assets. Even if it was tightly tied around her chest, her fair skinny well shaped legs which tempted me last night were clearly visible right now. She was quite an eyeful.

When I came to Las Vegas last night, I thought it would be just like the other times. A weekend of debauchery, to forget all of my problems. But this girl, or rather this woman got under my skin. She wasn't like the other women I've been with, or I'm use to be surrounded. Being a wealthy well-known artist and handsome as a Greek God [I mean come on, even I can't deny it] I attract hot women like a magnet.

She was standing next to the counter, dressed in a black short dress which revealed her long perfect legs, highlighted by high heels. The dress had long lacy sleeves and a very small low cut line. However her little curves were still emphasized. By her demeanor I could tell that she wasn't comfortable to wear this kind of clothes, and to draw attention. She wasn't the type of woman to be in these places, I bet she was dragged here. Besides, she wasn't luscious like the girls I like. Physically speaking she was not my type of girl, but I was still attracted to her in a certain way. I wouldn't say that she was hot, but more like beautiful [wow that's a first time for Adrian Ivashkov to call a woman beautiful].

When I approached her, I noticed that she had piercing ocean blue eyes underlined by a fine black eyeliner line, and blond medium-length hair which fell to her back in little curls. Her fine soft lips were enhanced by a pink lip gloss which tasted like strawberries. I still remember their sweet taste...and how they felt against mine…[Okay Adrian get a grip, you're heading towards a dangerous territory, do not forget that you are only wearing a pair of boxers!]

I was thankfully or more like unfortunately put out of my daydream by a stir of pain in my right cheek.

"Hello?!" Sydney said, waving her hands in front of my face.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Did you just slap me? You could have ruin my perfect face." I responded spitefully not without hiding a smile.

"Seriously?! You're unbelievable. You weren't answering and standing there, staring I don't where so I just slapped you to be sure you were...well I don't know... still with me...on Earth...Well you just scared me and looked super creepy. Anyway, can we go back this" she said breathlessly pointing to her ring.

"Could you explain me why do I have a freaking million dollars ring on my finger?" she asked angrily.

A few seconds passed before I came back to Earth and realized what she was talking about.

"Wait...you don't remember, do you?" I finally managed to say. She was probably playing with me...right...she can't have forgotten this! I mean, yeah she was a little tipsy, so was I but I was still aware of what we were doing, even though it was a sudden impulse...

"Remember what damn it?! For the love of God, would you stop being so cryptic and tell me what the hell happened last night?" she was shouting now.

Okay maybe she was more wasted than what I thought. God I should have noticed it. She was such a fragile creature who looked so small in my arms, of course she could not hold a drink...now I feel like I took advantage of her...I may be a drag sometimes, but I've never forced a girl to do something she didn't want to do. NEVER, that's my first rule, well with the "always use protection thing"...anyway I have to stop playing games and tell her the truth; before she has a heart-attack, or slaps me again.

"Sydney...last night...we...we... got...married...hence the ring on your finger...". I said as gently as possible.

By the look on her face, it's as if I've told her that I was a vampire or some other crazy stuff. She was pale as death, her mouth was open but no sound came out of it, and her eyes looked like there were going out of her orbits how much they were goggled.

Wow I have to tell, that's absolutely not the reaction I expected from the future lucky Miss Ivashkov…

At least, after what felt like centuries she finally stammered something intelligible.

"WHAT?! No...No...that can't be possible...there's probably another explanation, I mean...I could not have possibly married you last night." she said laughing nervously.

Well, another hit to my ego I have to admit...this girl was full of surprises.

"That's insane, right. It is just a not very funny joke and that's the moment you tell me there are hidden cameras or something like that..." she continued looking at me expectantly.

"Sage...after your reaction I wish it was a bad joke, but it is NOT. I wedded you last night..." I replied carefully..

"Okay...okay... I'm definitely going to be sick again!"She responded before puking on the faucet this time.

I went to the kitchen to look for some aspirin for Sydney and a cigarette for me. Oh yeah I really need to smoke right now because I bet I still have surprises in store…

 _ **So what did you think of this chapter? Was it what you were expecting?**_

 _ **Feel free to comment ;-)**_

 _ **-K**_


	4. The comprehension

_**Hey guys, I know it's been a long time sorry about that. I've been crazy busy lately with homework.**_

 _ **Here's a longer chapter to make it up to you, and also to make you wait for the next one…**_

Sydney's POV

 _"Sydney...last night...we...we... got...married...hence the ring on your finger…"_

I still couldn't believe it. "Married?!" "Me? Sydney Katherine Sage, the most annoying, awkward, shy, highbrow and hung up girl in the world, who only had one boyfriend in high school, Brayden with whom I exchanged a few kisses [that I found kind of gross by the way] got married last night, to a freaking male model.

Wow, I've never thought that tequila was such a powerful beverage. First hangover of my life and I end up married [well done Sydney]. What else then? I discover that I am pregnant? That would be the final straw for sure. Besides, I don't even remember if we...oh my God, I mean…I would probably remember something like, wouldn't I? Or at least feel something...I'm not sore except my headache so maybe it's a good sign…

I was bring back to reality by my...husband.

"Here Sydney. I've brought you some aspirin and a few crackers it might help you feel better. Come on take it." he said gently.

"Oh? Thank you that's very nice of you...you...you didn't need to do that." I stammered.

I drank the cup and ate a cracker. He stood there, watching me. He was still in his boxers, looking perfect with messy hair and a relaxed face. I don't know how he can cope with this situation so well.

"Hey, I realize that I don't even know your name..." I stated.

"Well that's a first, usually I'm the one who forgets a girl's name not the contrary" he laughed. "I'm Adrian...Adrian Ivashkok" he finally answered.

"Nice to meet you Adrian, that's a... great name." I replied with a faint smile. I've always loved this name, but I don't know why.

He kept staring at me, as if he was waiting for something. He eventually said: "You really have no idea of who I am, haven't you? Wow I can't believe I've wedded the only woman in the world who doesn't know my name."

"Of course I know who you are. You are Adrian Ivashkov, you've just told me your name. Duh! Are you playing with me?" The guy was stupid or what?…

"I would never play with you Sage, unless you want me to." He said smirking.

[Why do I have the impression that everything that comes out of this guy's mouth has a double meaning?]

"Okay let me try something else, have you ever heard about the Ivashkov's galleries? Does this ring a bell to you?" He asked.

"Wait a minute...are you the owner of the galleries?" Oh crap I knew the guy was wealthy but I've never thought about that type of wealth…

"Actually I'm the owner and the artist. All the paintings are my works." he answered proudly.

"Wow...(as if being handsome as hell, nice and rich weren't enough he was also famous and talented, any other girl in my situation would think she had hit the jackpot]. I've visited the gallery in New York once, which is not to far away from my apartment and well I'm not an expert in art, I'm more keen on architecture but from what I remembered, I've always thought that the artist, well you then were more…"

"Charming? Handsome? Funny?…" He interrupted me.

"I was going to say older" I said without hiding a smile.

"You thought that was an old fart who painted those masterpieces." he burst into laughter. "Indeed you're not the critic of the year when it comes to art. And I'm 23 by the way. Not much older than you if I remember correctly." He said.

Obviously he remembered more things about last night that me, so it was time to ask some questions and hopefully have some answers.

"Adrian, about last night... I have a question [I actually have more than one but this one was in the top list, now that I finally know his name…] As you've probably guessed I don't remember a lot about what happened, so maybe you couldenlightenme? I was wondering if we...you know…" [How was I going to say this out loud? I was already reddening].

"If we what Sydney? I might have a lot of qualities but reading in people's mind isn't one of them." he replied.

"Did we sleep together?" yep, I definitely went as red as a beet.

"Oh? That… No Sage, we didn't. We didn't have sex last night, if it's what was bothering you so far, you can be eased right now." He answered.

"No?" I asked surprised? [I was supposed to be relieved but I wasn't, even though I don't think he was lying to me. I actually trusted him in a certain way, but I don't know why. Feminine intuition perhaps…] "But...we woke up in a bed... almost naked." I stuttered.

"Well the fact that we did not sleep together does not mean that things didn't get heated between us..." he said playfully. "Okay, we may have kissed...a few times...you know the all "you can kiss the bride stuff" and the "honey moon night", you were quite eager about that I have to say... for a girl who looks so timid. As I like to say it's always the timidest who…

"Adrian!" I scolded, red as a tomato.

"Sorry. Anyway Sydney, from the moment I understood you were... a virgin, I stopped." He said awkwardly.

How the hell did he know that I was a virgin? Did I tell him? Damn it, that's soo embarrassing…

"Okay so let me get this straight. You stopped me from losing my virginity but you did not stop me during the ceremony, when I married you? Why?!" [What the hell was wrong with this guy]. I was starting to lose it. This situation is just insane, it drives me crazy.

"Do you have any idea the situation I got into. This ruined my life, this, that night, this isn't me, this is not "Sydney Sage", this is not who I am! I'm not the type of girl who gets wasted, hooks up with a guy, and ends up married." I shouted.

"Well, maybe alcohol just brought out your inner self? It helped you forget your problems, loosen up a bit." He was getting angry too. Good!

"What? How can you say something like that? You don't know me okay! We may have spend the night together and got married but you don't know a damn thing about my life, or me. This is a disaster and this is all your fault!" I was yelling now.

"Are you fucking kidding me right now?" he was shouting too now.

"My fault? So you're blaming me now. Do I have to remind you that I wasn't the one who forced you to drink? I wasn't the one who said let's go get married? I wasn't the one who throw myself on you. Fuck! I did not even bring you to Las Vegas in the first place. And for your information I'm not crazy about this situation either" he shrieked.

"We, we should calm down". I finally muttered breathless, and sat on the bathtub to calm my nerves and think.

 _"I did not even bring you to Las Vegas in the first place…"_

Oh my God...actually he was right. This was not his fault...but Rose's.

This is all Rose's fault, she was the one who brought me here in the first place! I've always known this girl would bit me in the ass, one day.

I have to find Rose!

 _ **A little drama in there…**_

 _ **-K**_


	5. The confusion

_**Hey guys,**_

 _ **here's a little new chapter.**_

 _ **Honestly, I had some difficulties to write it so...I hope you will like it ;-)**_

Sydney's POV

"I have to find Rose." I didn't realize I have said it aloud until Adrian answered: "Who? What?"

"Rose, I have to find my friend Rose. Where is my phone? And my clothes? Where are my stuffs?" I replied searching everywhere like a mad woman.

In the meantime he was just standing there, looking at me with big eyes and an open mouth "Um...".

"Adrian!" I shouted "Can you help me? Please" I lowered my voice, trying to regain the control of myself. Getting angry wouldn't fix anything.

"Ye-Yes, let's check out the bedroom, with a bit of luck your stuffs might be there". He said leaving the bathroom.

I followed him and spotted a black thing [that could be my dress] lying on the floor almost under the bed. I went towards it. Yes that was definitely my dress, but my bra wasn't there. So much the worse, I hadn't time to search for it, so I jerked off the towel that I was still wearing, not being concerned about Adrian seeing my boobs or whatever and slipped on the dress.

"You could have told me that it was striptease hour" he joked while he came closer to me.

"Oh and no bra? I like that, it makes things much more...accessible..." he continued smirking.

What the hell? Knowing the situation we were into, that's all he had to say. The guy had really no retain. Yuck, I've never met someone so much inappropriate in my whole life. [Congrats Sydney, apparently you've wedded a pig man who seems to see women just like sexual objects...that's exactly what I wished for a husband...]

"Seriously Adrian!? Look I really don't have time for your innuendos." I glared at him, red with anger. I need to get out of here before I blow a fuse.

"Okay, okay I will stop." he raised his hands as if he was surrounding himself to the police or something like that. "You don't need to scowl at me, just calm down, you're scaring me. You've already slapped me once I don't want to risk another "attack" from you and jeopardize my perfect anatomy." He admitted with a faint smile.

Oh my God, what was going on with me? I couldn't recognize myself anymore. All this wrath...it wasn't me. [Get a grip Sydney, you are a smart, calculating, and staid person.]

I sat on the bed, closed my eyes and took a deep breath. That's something I use to do when I'm stressed, to try to calm me down.

"You're right. I'm sorry if I scared you, I might have been a little harsh on you I admit it. It's just you know...all this situation...it kind of drives me crazy" I said in a trembling voice. My eyes were starting to sting. Now wasn't the moment to cry. I haven't cracked before, I will not crack now, especially not in front of him.

"Hey Sydney, it's fine." He gently replied and sat next to me. "Just look at me." He grabbed my chin with care in his hands. "I understand. The situation is far from being easy. I mean, it is not every day that you learn you got married to a stranger, and that you don't remember a single thing about it." He said looking intensely at me with his gorgeous and dangerous emerald eyes.

I immediately regret all the nasty things I said and the bad thoughts I had about him.

He was just trying to be nice when I was acting like a total hysterical bitch.

"How-how-can you be so relax about this situation?" I finally muttered. "Wait... Did it already happen to you?" I asked worried.

"What? Oh, no." He laughed "I may be a party boy, but even for me it's a first." He continued smiling. "I guess I just cope with this situation in a different way that you do. Instead of seeing the negative points, I see the positive ones. For instance, I tell to myself that at least, I wedded a beautiful woman." He added while he gently brush my cheek with his fingers.

His skin was soft, and each touch tickled. This was an awkward situation. I was fully dressed [well if we forget the fact that I wasn't wearing any bra] and he was only in his underwear. His mouth was perilously close to mine and I could feel his minty breath tinged with cigarette…I had to do something…

I looked away from his fiery gaze and that's when I saw it.

"OH! Look! Isn't it my purse on the chair over there." I exclaimed.

"Wh-at?" he stammered dumbfounded.

I took advantage of this moment of distraction to get away from him and ran to my purse. I immediately reached for my phone and dialed Rose's number, with trembling fingers. All my confidence was gone. This moment with Adrian...it confused me even more...I was so tensed...I didn't know what to do. I just panicked and it happened that my purse was magically there to "save" me…

The beeps of the phone brought me back to reality. I realized that I actually didn't know what to say to Rose…

"Damn it! Voice mail!" I said loudly.

There's only one thing to do now...I have to go back to our hotel room and confront her face to face. Thank God I still have the bedroom's key with its number in my purse. Because of course I couldn't remember the number of the room with all this restlessness and craziness.

"Listen Adrian...I...I need to go...I must find my friend..." I explained while heading in the direction of the door and by the way being careful to not make eye contact with him. His eyes were a true peril.

"What? Wait! You can't go like that, we...we still have to talk about...us. We have to do something..." he blurted waving his hands.

"Yeah...see you later...I guess..." I mumbled before getting out of the room.

I heard him calling me in the distance but I didn't answer. I know that what I did was coward and weak. I've just run away from my "responsibilities" but what else could I do?

I am so lost...

 _ **I know I might have been a little extreme with Sydney's reactions but I mean, look at the situation she finds herself into...**_

 _ **PS : next chapter should be from Adrian's POV.**_

 _ **-K**_


	6. The problem

_**Hey guys, here is as promised a chapter from Adrian's POV.**_

 _ **This is my longest chapter so far, I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it ;-)**_

 _ **PS: it might contain some "mature descriptions" (nothing too extreme honestly) but still I'm just warning since the story is rated T.**_

 _ **And once again sorry if there are any mistakes or misspelling, it may have some...**_

Adrian's POV

"Sydney!" I shouted while running in the hallway. People were looking at me puzzled and some were even laughing but I didn't mind. Sydney, my...wife was gone. She fled just like that, without daring turning back. I knew she'd heard me, she just didn't want to answer. That's the first time a woman ran away from me but once again Sydney wasn't like any other woman. She ran away without any explanation except the fact that she needed to find her friend Rose…

I went back inside my room and sat on the bed, with my head on my hands. [Damn it Ivashkov what did you do...and most importantly what are you going to do now…]

How can I cope with this situation is she is not here anymore...how are we going to fix this…

I closed my eyes and rubbed my hair (that's something I use to do when I'm nervous.)

Ah...Sydney...Sydney where did you go….? Just saying her name and thinking about her made my heart ache. What the hell? What was happening to me? I knew this girl for less than 24 hours and I already... missed her. I was becoming pathetic like those guys in romantic movies who get all pussy around the "love of their life". I laughed! [Get a grip Ivashkov!]

My mind was bubbling up and my anxiety was coming back. I had to do something to distract myself. Maybe a drink? Um...after second thoughts a drink didn't sound such a great idea. After what happened last night…I will stick with a cigarette.

I got up and went to the living room (one of the advantages of having the means to offer a penthouse suite is that at least I spend time in very nice places). I must have left the packet there if I remember correctly (my memory was still fuzzy and the events of this morning didn't help). I grabbed the pack and the lighter and went outside to the balcony. Not caring about the fact that I was only in my boxers. Hell, with a body like mine I had nothing to be ashamed of. I let the female sex feast her eyes on me.

After smoking two cigarettes I eventually came back inside.

On my way back, I spotted a black cloth on the floor...it was a lacy bra, Sydney's bra actually. I grabbed it. I have to admit, it was in a poor state and all creased. Afterall, last night was pretty wild…

I smiled re-thinking about it. She was so eager when we came back from the chapel that she didn't even take the time to check the room. She took me from aback by throwing herself at me, which made us both fell. Thankfully she fell on me so she didn't hurt herself. I remember that genuine grin she had and that little laugh she did when she realized we were on the floor. She was so beautiful, her skin was so soft and she smelled a sweet vanilla scent. For being with many women, I quickly understood that she wasn't an "expert in physical contacts" so I let her take control. She was so cute. Her shyness was shaded by alcohol but I could still notice that she was nervous by her trembling fingers and her little bursts of laughter. She let me unzipped her dress and lower it to her thin waist. Even in the dim light I could admire her lovely body. Her boobs were well maintained by her black push up lacy bra. Even though they were covered I was still able to spot her little excited raspberry nipples. Obviously all my blood flowed South and I stayed there, ogling her motionless. Seeing my lack of reaction, she eventually and bravely took off her bra.

I knew it was something reckless for her, and that it was probably something she had never done before. So I took her hands into mines to prevent her from trying to hide herself. She let me look at her bare chest. From her rounded small perfect breasts [usually I prefer women with big tits but Sydney's were just flawless] to her cute little mole near her belly button, she was wonderful. I was speechless and my heart was beating so fast that I had trouble to breathe.

I finally looked up and that's when I understood that I was done. Her eyes...they were beautiful, such an amazing color, a beautiful shade of blue. They were a real piece of art that I could definitely paint. And their look...I could see them shining with lust...just like mine I guess.

It was the same look that she had a bit earlier when we were sitting on the bed and I tried to soothe her. I knew I shouldn't have touch her, and that it was stupid of me but I couldn't help myself. I just wanted to take her slender body in my arms and hug her tightly, to protect her and tell her that everything would be fine.

That's why I restrained myself and simply rubbed her sweet cheek. I immediately felt this sparkle when I touched her, the same I've felt yesterday during our heated moments. I wanted to kiss her so desperately, and I knew by the look in her eyes and her parted lips that deeply inside her, she wanted it too, unfortunately she pushed me away.

I was no fool. I comprehended that she wanted to take some distance from me by using the poor excuse of her purse to avoid it.

Where was the girl I met last night? The girl who threw herself at me. The lust in her eyes was still there, but this time her mind took over her….

Her words played in my head like a song " _Do you have any idea the situation I got into. This ruined my life, this, that night, this isn't me, this is not "Sydney Sage", this is not who I am! I'm not the type of girl who gets wasted, hooks up with a guy, and ends up married_." A series of questions started to form in my mind.

What if she regretted what happened? What if she only acted under the influence of alcohol? God I'm sure she is currently regretting what happened last night. And if she remembered it, she would probably be disgusted. Of course she would. It kind of hurt me but it was the truth. I must have been the only man who has ever touched her and I had to be a man whore. Thankfully I stopped the things before they got to far...I would have never forgive myself if I didn't…

I once again acted impulsively and did not think about the consequences, like my father would say...For my defense being a spoiled rotten child didn't help my education. Notwithstanding, I'm a grown up man now and I should think twice before doing something...

Okay now I was the one thinking too much. Maybe a shower would relax me and clear my head. Taking a look at myself I realized that I looked like shit and definitely needed to shower. And a cold one by preference because despite my tormented mind something was still chipper and pricking up proudly. Shit, I haven't taken cold showers since high school.

I was getting out of the shower when I heard a noise. I rapidly grabbed a towel around my waist and prepared myself to see the source of the sound.

"Dude what the hell? You scared me!" I exclaimed instantly recognizing the "intruder".

In front of me was standing the "delightful" Dimitri Belikov also known as the "Russian God". With around 6 foot and 200 pounds of muscles, dark brown eyes and shoulder length brow hair almost always tied in a ponytail (which means that he was on duty) and a fucking scary presence, Dimitri was a hell of man. He was also my best friend and like a brother to me.

Despite his two extra years, we lived and attended school together. His mother came to the United States when he was three years old, and became our servant. My father might be an asshole, but he always treated them well, like his own family. Rumor has it that Dimitri's father may be related to my dad but no one has ever confirmed it and his mother never wanted to talk about him. Anyways, Dimitri was always protective towards me and took care of me since I was a child until nowadays, when he has become my bodyguard.

"Yeah, you should be scared Ivashkov because Hell is definitely where I'm going to send you if you don't explain me what is going on." He answered furiously. An angry Dimitri was a very bad thing to see I can assure you.

"I called you a hundred times but you never answered. Where did you put your fucking phone?" He shouted.

"Dude calm down. First of all I don't know where I put my phone okay. Secondly we have a deal, if I don't answer, you don't need to freak out it just means that I am busy as always." I said slowly. Being my bodyguard Dimitri followed me everywhere I went especially when I traveled, to of course assure my security. I'm a famous and rich artist both from my works but also from my father's pedigree. Knowing my fondness for fun and after the kidnapping with ransom my father was victim when I was 15, he insisted that I had a bodyguard with me every time I went somewhere. I agreed and made a deal with Dimitri: He goes wherever I go and sometimes even parties with me. If no, he keeps an eye on me distantly and secretly but always takes the room next to me in a hotel, to give us both some privacy. He knows that if I don't answer my phone it's normal. I use to call or text him back when I'm available, or directly goes to see him.

"Thirdly, why did you showed up like a mad dog in my room. Man I could have been busy entertaining some charming lady." I added smirking.

"I don't see any lady here so unless you were entertaining yourself I'm not interrupting anything." He responded insensitively. Ah... Dimitri and his subtle delicateness...

"Well actually I was hoping to see a certain woman...a blond one in particular. The one with whom I left you the other night." He was getting closer to me.

"Adrian, can you explain me this." He said holding me something out.

That's when I noticed that he has been carrying something under his arm since he's come.

I took it and couldn't believe what I was seeing….

It was a magazine with a picture of Sydney and me in the chapel where we got married last night. Under it was written in big letters " _I_ _t looks like our favorite hot artist Adrian Ivashkov found a suitable match the other night in Las Vegas. Sorry ladies he is not looking for love anymore_." But that was only the headline, the article went on " _Am I the only one to think that even for our reckless party boy this is a little extreme? Or is there a reason behind this hidden wedding…? Stay tuned ladies..._ " and more pictures were displayed as one where we were kissing very suggestively...

"HOLY SHIT!" I snapped.

 _"Do you have any idea the situation I got into. This ruined my life."_ Sydney's words slapped me in the face like a bucket of ice. She was right, I ruined her life. Mine was already fucked up and my reputation tarnished but not hers…

"Man, are you okay? You're as white as a sheet." Dimitri said while shaking my shoulder.

"Dimitri...I'm so screwed...I did a horrible mistake." I muttered horrified.

"Damn it! I'm sorry Adrian. I knew I shouldn't have left you yesterday." He answered angrily.

"No! Dimitri it wasn't your fault. I was the one who begged you to go away. Fuck! If my father knew... he would have probably killed me. Well I'm sure he will murder me now..." I responded distraught while I pointed to the periodical. "What am going to do now...".

"Adrian... ease up. I'm sure we're going to find a solution." Dimitri said gently tapping my back at the same time.

"Why don't we start by finding the girl? I bet she ran out didn't she? I mean that's certainly what I would do if I discovered that I got married to a dickhead like you". He laughed.

"Ouch it hurt. And I always thought that you had a thing for me." I answered with a hand in my heart and a faint smile, pretending to be shocked. No matter the situation, Dimitri was always there to make me smile and laugh.

"Jackass! Now go put some clothes on to find your damsel in distress before your father or a fucking paparazzi does. My eyes are tired of seeing your naked ass." He chuckled.

"Oh really? I thought you like it." I replied taking off the towel I had around my waist and shaking my booty.

"Oh God please burn my eyes right now." Dimitri said putting his hands in front of his eyes.

"Now go before I change my mind and let you alone in your shit." He threw me a pillow.

"Dimitri?" I turned around.

"What now?" He asked looking up at me.

"Thank you." I replied honestly.

"That's what friends are for". He smiled.

I was very grateful to have a friend like Dimitri and I bless God every day for bringing him into my life. He was always there for me no matter what bullshit I'd done. He was the brother I've always wished to have.

 _ **Um...that's getting interesting… Any ideas about what could happen next…?**_

 _ **What did you think about Dimitri's character?**_

 _ **Just let me know ;-)**_

 ** _-K_**


	7. The confrontation

_**Hey guys,**_

 _ **while re-reading the previous chapter I realized that I've made a little mistake about Sydney's eyes (don't know if you've noticed…) well I've corrected it and Sydney's eyes are definitely blue in my story, sorry for the misunderstanding.**_

 _ **Anyways here is a new long chapter to make you wait for the next one...**_

Sydney's POV

I ran through the stairs like a mad woman to reach my room in the third floor and hopefully find Rose. I arrived breathless and sweaty. I didn't take the time to knock.

"Rose! Rose! Are you here?" I yelled. "Lissa? Rose? Is anybody here?" I asked again, but no one answered. Damn it! None of them was in the room. I could have think that I had mislead the room but no, it was the right one: room 307, from what was written on the card and I recognized my small black suitcase. I always travel light. I will never understand those girls who take dozens of luggage for a few days and therefore need someone assistance to carry all of them. What's the point?

I was calling Rose again when I heard the song "Run the World" by Beyoncé playing. In other words, Rose's ringtone. Crap! She forgot her cell phone, now I understand why she did not answer earlier. I checked the time, it was 12:30 AM, she probably went to eat lunch with Lissa, and of course I don't have Lissa's number.

Suffering in silence I decided to take a shower, to relax a little bit and clear my mind. I scrubbed myself vigorously hoping to erase all that must have happened yesterday and also to get rid of Adrian's musky scent which was everywhere on my body. Maybe by doing that I could forget the events of this morning, as for instance the fact that I screamed at him or that we almost kissed...and oh boy if I didn't want to kiss his perfect dark pink lips which looked so soft and warmed…and when he gently brushed my cheek... his touch was so delicate and intimate in a certain way, it sent sparks through all my body. Something that I've never felt before. Was it like that yesterday? Was it why I let myself go so far with him? Or was it like he said, the alcohol which was acting?…

I'm not an idiot, I saw the hurt in his eyes when I pushed him away. But how could have I kiss him after what I did? I didn't even remember his name meanwhile he remembered everything. The words, the touches, the kisses...how would I feel if the situation was reversed? I'm angry with myself for letting things go wrong and I feel so stupid and guilty for giving this poor man false hopes...  
I finally cracked. The pressure was too much and I finished my shower crying as I've never cried before.

Putting myself together I eventually managed to stop the tears and got dress. I put my hair on a high ponytail, put a little touch of foundation to cover the dark rings under my eyes and slipped on some brown pants and a fair kaki blouse. I was already feeling better and...myself again. I called the room service and ordered a bottle of water and a niçoise salad to help my body recover from the hangover. At least the headache was gone thanks to the aspirin, that was a good thing.

It was almost 2 PM when the door opened with a smiling Rose. She was wearing a red tank top, revealing just enough of her cleavage and tight black jeans with black stilettos. I really don't know how she can walk with those on her feet. Her curly hair was falling in her back and she had put her usual make-up: ruby red lipstick and a stroke of black eye-liner. She was looking gorgeous as always. I envy her sometimes, not only because of her physical appearance but also because of her personality, her confidence and how much at ease she is around people especially around the male sex.

I was looking at her so intensely that I didn't notice she was speaking.

"Hey, Sydney! How are you, you secretive little thing! Where were you? How was your night? Did you finally did it? Was it with this sexy dark haired guy?" she listed eagerly.

"Shut up Rose!" I barked. It looks like my anger is back…

"Okay...someone is in a bad mood..." Rose stated slowly not without big eyes, she was probably as shocked as I was of my raise of tone.

"Sydney are you okay? What is going on?" she added calmly whilst walking carefully towards me.

"No Rose, I'm not okay. Definitely not freaking okay!" I shouted and stood up from the bed I was sitting on.

"Where were you? And why didn't you take your stupid unaffordable cellphone with you? You seem to always have it except when it's necessary from what I can see." I continued still screaming at her. Between Adrian and Sydney I was beating my record in shouts and yells.

"Fine Sydney, I will answer you but please calm down, you're scaring the hell out of me. Wow I've never saw you so angry. Remember what you always tell my when I'm getting piss off and I want to slap someone? Breathe in, breathe out...breathe in, breathe out...get a grip..." she said miming her words.

"Okay..." I closed my eyes and inhale and exhale to calm myself once again.

"So where do I start? Indeed I forgot my phone, because I didn't know where I left it and was late to go to eat lunch with Lissa and her new "boyfriend". A guy she met last night. He seems like a nice guy, his name is Christian, dark- haired, blue eyes just like yours not really my type but kind of cute and I have to admit hot. If you could see the way he looked at Lissa, how he was dribbling next to her. It was like the world around him didn't exist, I felt like I was the third wheel. Anyways Lissa insisted that I came to meet him and have my opinion and he paid for the food so who am I to refuse free food? We went to this luxury restaurant near the hotel, I think the guy is pretty wealthy too." she enumerated.

"Oh great so you went to enjoy yourself in a fancy restaurant with Lissa and her boyfriend, but never thought about me for one second. I could have been dead, my body threw on a ditch or something like that but no, it never crossed your mind. Or was it your point from the beginning to get rid of me in Las Vegas? If I'm such a pain in the ass you could have told me, you didn't need to get such a fair amount of trouble to do it." I said coldly. What the hell was wrong with her? I thought we were friends? My eyes were stinging again.

"Oh-my-God-Sydney!" Rose babbled dumbfounded.

"How could you think something like that? I would NEVER abandon you, I thought you knew that! Of course we are friends, friends forever remember, you're stuck with me buddy." she added giving me a faint smile, still prudent towards me.

"Rose..." my voice was trembling.

"I'm-I'm-so-sorry, it's just everything is so-complicated and-I-I- don't know what do to..." I stammered with tears in my eyes.

"Sydney..." Rose said in an affectionate tone. "Come here." she hugged me tightly.

"Listen to me, if someone has to be sorry it's definitely me, you were right I was a bad friend." I was crying on her shoulder while she gently rubbed my back.

"I should have looked for you sooner. I just wanted to give you some privacy, some space, you know... you looked so happy last night, I didn't want to bother you. Besides I thought that if you had a problem you would have told me...I realize that I was wrong. Sydney what happened last night? Did something bad happened to you? Tell me." Rose's added gently.

"Well I thought you would be the one helping me on that." I responded abruptly.

"What do you mean?" she asked moving back slowly to see my face.

"Rose I need you to tell me everything you remember from last night, until the last moment you've seen me. Don't skip anything. Please Rose." I begged her, my eyes were still wet.

"Well...let me sit down." I sat next to her expectantly.

"Hum...we went to this bar with Lissa, looking sexy as hell, especially you Miss Sage" she winked at me. "Then I ordered shots of tequila, a lot of shots-..."

"Yeah that part I remember unfortunately" I interrupted her. How could I forget these evil tequila shots...

"Unfortunately?" she looked puzzled.

"Just go on". I stated.

"Okay what else...of yeah, you were starting to get at ease" she continued.

"You mean I was wasted?" I snapped.

"No you were not! Just a little tipsy. I swear." she added chuckling.

"And by the end you were the one ordering the shots. Nevermind, I saw that you were leering at a guy, so I dared you to go talk to him and ask him to dance. And you Sydney Katherine Sage" she pointed at me. "You actually did it!" she said with a bright smile.

I definitely do not recognize myself in there...

"What?! Wait do you remember the guy's name? How was he?" I demanded worried. The last thing I wanted was to learn that I flirted with various men without having any memories of it.

"I don't know his name, you didn't tell me, but he was super hot...with black hair and oh yes, he had deep green eyes. That I remember!". she exclaimed.

Thank God it was probably Adrian.

"And then?..." I replied.

"You went to dance with him and got all tactile like hands on the hips and everything..." she waved her hands to illustrate her words.

"Oh my God!" I was blushing. "I must have looked like a slut..."

"Hey it's okay, you don't need to be embarrassed it's Vegas Sydney! Everyone does that and even worst trust me I've seen things that I wish I haven't, some people were just... gross...But you and that guy, you were just...hot. Anyway, after a while, you came back to me saying that the guy invited you to go somewhere else." she said casually.

"And you let me leave with a stranger?" I asked astonished. Knowing my state she could have at least stop me from doing a terrible mistake.

"Hey you seemed so radiant and eager and you almost begged me to let you go saying that you've finally gotten what I wanted. Furthermore the guy looked sincere so I eventually said yes. Asking you to call me in case of any problem obviously. You should have seen your face when I said yes, you looked like a child opening his presents on Christmas." she giggled.

"What?" I couldn't believe that. But then why would Rose lied to me about that? She knows me better than everyone...

"Okay so I left with the guy and then what?" I asked hoping that she did eventually stopped me...

"That's the last time I saw you. A bit later Lissa went away with Christian and I was left alone. I then drank a few more shots and met a guy named Mason. We danced and have some fun together but nothing too serious. He invited me to his room but I refused. I don't know I just wasn't in the mood I guess. So I came back typsy and alone around 3 AM. Can you believe it? Me Rosemarie Hathaway came back to bed from a night in Las Vegas alone meanwhile Lissa and you the little innocent didn't." she was laughing now.

"Rose this isn't funny and I wish I had come back alone safe and sound to the room." I sighed.

"What do you mean Sydney? Did the guy hurt you? Do I have to kick his perfect ass?" she threatened.

"No! He...he didn't hurt me...He was actually nice to me, more than I was..." I told her honestly.

"So...? Where is the problem?" she asked perplexed.

"Rose, the guy with whom I was last night, his name is Adrian...Adrian Ivashkov." I admitted. I have to be utterly honest with Rose and tell her everything that I remember from last night, maybe she could help me...

"Wait...Why does this name seem familiar to me?" she cut me.

"He is a famous painter and the owner of the Ivashkov's galleries, you know the one we visited last month, where I had to force you to go with me, to not be alone." I explained.

"Oh yeah! I remember. It was so boring! All his paintings looked alike. Honestly I'll never comprehend the fascination people have for art…whatever you made out with a famous hot rich guy what's the big the deal?"she said

"Well…" I made a face.

"What? Let me guess… He was a bad fuck? Oh no...he had a small dick?" she snapped.

"Rose!" I scolded her. Only Rose can say things like that without any embarrassment.

"He-from what- I've seen..." I spluttered. [Come on Sydney focus…]

"Yikes we didn't even...have sex okay. Here is not the problem. The problem is that I woke up in his bed practically naked except that stupid lacy panties you forced me to wear on, without remembering a damn thing about what had happened. The only things I remember are the shots on the bar, vaguely some dances with Adrian and then...then...nothing. A black hole. I was so drunk that I did not know what I was doing last night." I gasped.

"Sydney calm down. Things like that happen to everyone especially after a first hangover." she asserted.

"No Rose you're wrong things like that don't happen to me because I'm not "everyone", I-I- have a good head on my shoulders, well...I thought I had..." I said desperatly.

"It's okay, you don't have to torture yourself about it. It's good to go a little wild sometimes, even for you. You did what you wanted to do and not what people were expecting you to. Once I found myself sleeping in my underwear on a foreign bathtub with an empty bottle of gin in my hand, not knowing how I got there. It was the owner of the house who explained me that I was so drunk that I thought I could sober up with a cold bath but that I had actually fallen asleep before turning on the tap." she chortled.

"Yeah but at least you didn't get married." I blurted. Oh crap. I didn't want to drop it like that.

"You WHAT?!" she screamed thunderstruck.

"I wedded the Adrian guy last night and don't have a freaking clue of how I did it." I whispered.

"You're kidding right? I mean are you-sure? Did you talk to this Adrian guy? Maybe this is a misunderstanding?" she stated hopefully.

"Do I look like I'm kidding." I showed her the ring.

"Holy shit!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah tell me about it. What am going to do Rose? If only I could erase what happened, go back..." I sobbed.

"Sydney I'm so sorry I should have never left you go away with that guy. It was the first time you've drunk alcohol...I should have been more responsible." she apologized.

"You know at first I was mad at you, and I blamed you for that." I sneered.

"Afterall, you were the one who brought me here, gave me those drinks, dared me to go talk to the guy, but Rose, I realized that you weren't the one who forced me to marry this guy. I did it." I pointed myself.

Adrian's words came back to me _"_ _Do I have to remind you that_ _I wasn't the one who force_ _d_ _you to drink? I wasn't the one who said let's go get married? I wasn't the one who throw myself on you."_ Unfortunately, he was right.

"If someone is to blame it's probably the tequila I drank. I shouldn't have drink it so much. I should have been more responsible." I admitted.

"And you really have no memories of what happened? Nothing at all? The chapel? The rings? The vows? The kisses?" she demanded.

"Nothing Rose, I didn't even remember the guy's name when I woke up meanwhile he remembered everything. I'm such a horrible person! What have I done? It's like I was in somebody's else body…" I was crying again.

"Sydney..." she gave me a tissue and hugged me again.

"The alcohol might have blurred your mind but it didn't force you to do anything. As you've always told me "Your mind, it's who you are." I've known you for more than ten years now, and I know that you are stubborn as hell." she laughed. "I know that no one would ever force you to do something you wouldn't, especially not get married with a stranger." she added.

"You-You may be right Rose but this wedding, it-it- ruined my life! My father is going to kill me!" I croaked.

"Have you talked to the guy about the situation?" she asked while giving me another tissue

"I-I-tried but then I ran away...to find you." I stuttered.

"Well... you panicked that's understandable. And hey, I don't want to see you crying again about this situation. We're going to find a solution okay, so don't worry." she said gently.

"I hope so...". I responded cleaning my tears.

"Did you hear that?" I asked Rose.

"What?" Rose replied alert.

"Someone is knocking at our door. Maybe it's Lissa..." I said bewildered.

"Or maybe it's sexy strippers, did you order some Sydney?" she smirked at me.

"Haha very funny! Now go open the door!" I laughed. Rose was always here to make some stupid jokes making me laugh.

"Well...I wouldn't mind if they were strippers." I heard Rose said.

I walked towards the door and was instantly caught by a beautiful emerald-green look that I could definitely identify between thousands...Adrian!

What was he doing here? And who the hell was that tall muscled long brown-haired guy standing next to him? I guess what they say is true "Birds of a feather flock together" because that guy was hot too, I have to admit Rose was right about the striptease thing…

I didn't realize I was gawking at them until I heard Adrian's deep and serious voice.

"Sydney, we need to talk!"

 _ **I hope you enjoyed the chapter.**_

 _ **-K**_


	8. The idea

_**Hey guys, I'm sorry it had taken me so long to update**_ _ **this time**_ _ **. I have been quite busy these past few weeks.**_

 _ **I will try to update sooner next time, I promise ;-)**_

 _ **Once again: enjoy!**_

Sydney's POV

" _Sydney, we need to talk!_ "

I stared incredulous at Adrian. He was wearing black designer jeans and a white polo shirt unbuttoned on the top, revealing his neck and a part of his hairless chest. Despite the fact that he was clean and fully dressed, his hair were still in a messy style, which I wouldn't lie, gave him a sexy side. He looked gorgeous, it was as if the clothes were made for him. However I couldn't help but think about him in his white silk boxer this morning and wonder what kind of underwear he was wearing now...suddenly the air in the room seemed to be uncomfortably hot...

"Hum... Sydney..." Rose said clearing her throat and bringing me back to reality at the same time. "Do you know these guys? Do I let them in or do you want me to kick them out?" She continued all naturally as if she wasn't talking about kicking some guys' ass. The tall brown hair dude giggled at Rose's last comment, not taking her threat seriously. If only he knew...  
"What are you laughing at, you…giant?!" Rose glared at him not without ogling him by the way. Interesting… "You think I couldn't kick your ass?" she added with a defiant look.

Rose wasn't afraid of anything and hated when people underestimated her, especially when those people in question were chauvinists. She made a lot of dudes cried in high school that's why she found herself often in the principal's office. Thankfully I was here to save the day and her student file wasn't ruined. I also helped her get good grades and was the only one who encouraged her when she announced that she wanted to join the police academy. Even her cousin Lissa was against her idea, but I knew it was the perfect job for her. It would give her everything she liked: the kicking, the like taking risks...and it turned out that I was right. Indeed Rose entered the school and got out of it being the valedictorian. She then started her career as a cop being a deputy but soon became known as officer "Rosemary Hataway". She became a legend, leaving all the guys speechless. One could say that Rose was the perfect combination of sexy and lethal.

"I wouldn't mind letting your try..." the brown-eyed guy finally replied with bedroom eyes.  
Okay...there was definitely some mutual attraction between these two and the sexual tension was palpable. Eventually, Adrian broke this awkward silence.

"Sorry, we haven't been formally introduced. I'm Adrian Ivashkov" Adrian informed Rose speaking with his deep and unctuous voice "and this is my friend and bodyguard Dimitri Belikov." he pointed to the tall guy.

Bodyguard? Well that explains the guy's stature and his confidence, but why would Adrian need one? I haven't seen any bodyguards yesterday, not that I remember the events super well. Unless he was afraid that I would try to flee again and decided to hire one? No! This was absurd, and how would he come up with a bodyguard so quickly?

I was pull out of my thoughts by Adrian, once again.

"And you must be Sydney's friend... Rose? Am I right?" he added with one of his lady-killer smiles which didn't seem to work on Rose. All her attention was focused on that Dimitri guy. I've never seen Rose so taken aback by a man, usually she was the one who abashed them.  
"Wait?" Rose finally retorted still a little stunned. "Did you say Adrian Ivashkov like..." she was looking back and forth between Adrian and me "like THE Adrian Ivashkok you got married to last night!" she exclaimed finally focusing her eyes on me.  
I opened my mouth to respond but no sound came. My mind was still trying to comprehend what was going on. I was feeling dizzy and it was like I was a viewer of the scene taking place in front of me. Maybe I was dreaming? I pinched myself to check. Nope it hurt, I wasn't dreaming, too bad. Watching my lack of reactivity Adrian thankfully answered for me.  
"I can see that she put you in the know." he commented. "Indeed, I'm THE Adrian Ivashkov. I'm Sydney's... husband." I noticed that the word "husband" also felt wrong in his mouth.  
"So, now that the introductions have been done, Sydney would you please let us in?" he asked softly.  
All three were staring at me now, waiting for my answer. I eventually looked up and met Adrian's emerald gaze one more time. In the dim light I could note that he wasn't shaved and had shadows under his eyes. He was probably as tired as I was. I was expecting him to be mad at me after my "little run away" but he looked actually anxious and worried. Something was wrong.

"Ok-ay, yes." I reluctantly managed to mutter after breaking his intense gaze. I had to face reality, there was no escape now. Rose frowned at me but didn't say anything while they made their way to the room after a polite "thank you" pronounced by Adrian. Dimitri passed by Rose and gave her a smug smile to which she replied to by a scowl. A silence war was happening between these two. It was impossible to know if they wanted to kill one another or rip each other clothes.  
Our hotel room was modest compared to Adrian's. It was composed of two single beds and a little bathroom. The rooms only welcomed two persons so Lissa had to take another one, next to ours. The guys sat on one of the bed while Rose and me sat in the other, in a manner that we were facing each other. Seeing that now one was talking I summoned the courage to engage the conversation.

"How did you find me?" I croaked towards Adrian avoiding eye contact. It was useless to ask him what he was doing here, we still haven't solved our "problem" and I just left him. I mean if the situation was reverse I would have done the same.  
"Let's just say I have my ways." he responded smirking.  
"And here is the Adrian of this morning." I rolled my eyes. He might be 23 years old as he told me this morning, but it was like talking to a child.  
"We knew your full name so we asked the receptionist for your bedroom's number." Dimitri started to explain. "She was reluctant at first but then with the help of our combine charms and a little banknote she gave it to us… accompanied by her phone number. But… I guess this information is useless. Anyways..." he coughed. "It's nice to finally meet you Sydney Sage" he said with a coy smile. I was startled by Dimitri's sudden speaking, but I was grateful that he answered honestly. He seemed like a nice and loyal person which corresponds perfectly for his job as a bodyguard.  
"Thank...you, for your candor, and it's a... pleasure to meet you too... Dimitri." I spluttered with a faint smile, not really knowing what to say.  
"Did you really need to stick your two cents in?" Adrian snapped to Dimitri. If it wasn't for Dimitri's indifference I would have been shocked by Adrian's comment. But it seemed that these two were used to this type of remarks, which made me wonder what kind of relationship they had.  
"I was just trying to help you asshole. You know even better than me that we don't have time to play games." he replied with an annoyed voice. They were arguing like an old couple, it was more than a professional relationship that's for sure. I cracked a smile and from the corner of my eyes I could see that Rose was doing her best to not laugh.  
"You're right dude, my bad. I'm sorry once again for the outburst, it's just, it's a though and complicated situation as everyone can comprehend." Adrian eventually stated seeing reason. So... Dimitri seemed to be the voice of reason. That's probably why they get along so well because at first sight, these two looked like chalk and cheese.

"Sydney…." Adrian started, clearing his throat. "I'm not going to beat about the bush. Since you went away this morning, have you seen any magazines, went online, switch on the TV, radio…any media" he interrogated. I frowned confused. What was he talking about? What was his point?  
"Okay, by your reaction I suppose you didn't see anything, that's good then, it means that we came in time." he sighed.  
"Came in time?" I repeated bewildered. "For what? Adrian what is going on?" Now I was getting worried.  
"Dimitri, can you show her the magazine please?" Adrian asked softly to Dimitri.  
"Yes, of course. Here Sydney." Dimitri responded, taking a magazine out of the inside pocket of his long black leather duster. What the hell? He gave it to me with a sympathetic smile.

Curious, I grabbed it and took a look at it. It was one of these Hollywood gossip magazines, usually reserved to scandalous celebrities. Not the type of newspapers that I read, that's for sure. Why would he give me that? I opened it and there... was a picture of Adrian and...ME, in a chapel, probably where we got married, near umpteenth copies of Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe. We both looked...happy and worn a goofy smile. I'm not the swear type of person but this time I couldn't help myself "What the fuck is that?" If it wasn't for the black dress and the clear visibility of my face I wouldn't have believed that this girl was me. Well at least now I have the proof that I did wedded Adrian last night, I even got a picture of our wedding, what a lucky girl, I thought ironically. And I got married in a black dress. Wow, that's exactly how I had imagined my big day. I giggled nervously. Under the picture was written in big letters " _It looks like our favorite hot artist Adrian Ivashkov found a suitable match the other night in Las Vegas. Sorry ladies he is not looking for love anymore_." But that was only the headline, the article went on " _Am I the only one to think that even for our reckless party boy this is a little extreme? Or is there a reason behind this hidden wedding…? Stay tuned ladies…_ "  
And of course they kept the best till last, because more pictures of Adrian and me were displayed as one where we were kissing very... suggestively. This one must have been taken in the bar when we were dancing and getting "all tactile" as Rose said. Well that's a very good euphemism...Adrian's hands were on my rear bringing our hips together, I had my arms around his neck and we were smooching like two horny teenagers. I speculate that half of the planet have already seen this and the icing on the cake is that my parents especially my father could have seen it too.  
OH-MY-GOD! I was going to be sick again...I threw the magazine on the bed and ran to the bathroom. I just heard a gasp followed by an "oh Fuck" coming from Rose before I puked for the third time today. Awesome!

When I came back, Rose gave me a glass of water with a compassionate look in her eyes. I thanked her in a hoarse voice, and sat on the bed again.  
"Adrian? I finally attempted timidly after feeling less queasy "Can-can you explain me what is this?" I demanded hesitantly.  
"Oh Sydney...if you knew how sorry I am..." he wailed running his hand through his hair. I noticed that's something he did a lot when he was nervous. He was also standing up and coming towards me, trying to find my gaze.  
"Don't...!" Rose spat, stopping his attempt to come nearer. I silently thanked her. I didn't need him to touch me and disturb me even more.  
"Okay...right" he snorted and continued in a serious tone, one that I've heard only once. It was like a business one. "Listen Sydney, I swear to you I didn't know that they were taking pictures of us and it never crossed my mind that they would. But I confess that I was wrong and reckless. I should have known better. As I told you I'm famous but sometimes I'm better known for my bullshits that my works. I'm used to tabloids but usually they are more focused on me and not the persons I spent time with. If no it lasts a few days and then another singer or actor screws up and the scandal is soon forgotten. Nevertheless, this time I think this will not be as easy. I got married to a complete stranger in Las Vegas and they are going to dig as deep as they can to try to find as much information as possible on you."  
"Well that's very comforting..." I said between my teeth. I bet I wasn't going to like where this conversation was leading...I noted that Rose wasn't enchanted by the speech either. Her body was taut and she was ready to jump at Adrian at any moment. She was just waiting for my green light to let her strangle him.  
"Indeed" he replied nervous "that's why I had an idea...but I'm not sure you're going to like it..." Bingo! I screamed internally. "Sooner or later you are going to be surrounded by paparazzi, so I thought that perhaps...well the best way to protect you until we found a solution to our situation is for you to...come with me. I have bodyguards, I guarantee you that I will protect you Sydney!" He was wrong. I didn't like his idea, in fact I hated it.

"What? Coming with you? Where?" I shrieked looking sternly at him. Rose was seething with anger next to me.  
"Well I know that you're from New York and so am I. I live there almost the whole year. I have an apartment, my studio and my biggest gallery, but it would be too risky to go back there. That's where they would be expecting us. So I was thinking that maybe we could go somewhere further, I have a villa in Palm Springs, where I spend most of my holidays. The weather is better than in New York, it's a very good city, not to far away from Los Angeles but far away enough to have some tranquility...  
"WHAT?" I yelled, stopping him at the same time. I couldn't listen more of what he was saying. "Have you lost your mind? Palm Springs is on the other side of the country. And why would I go live with you?" I shouted shaking my head. That guy was crazy.

"Sydney...I know it won't be easy..." he continued calmly as if he hadn't hear anything I've said before.

"Easy? You're kidding right?" I barked. "I can't give up my life like that! I'm a third year student in the medical center of Columbia University, you know this not really known university which doesn't cost an arm and a leg and where everyone can enter. This same university which accepts absenteeism and gives you your degree at the end of your school years." I joked. "And what about my father? Eh? He would...deprived me, disown me, slaughter me... every lovely thing you could never imagine." I took a deep breath. "You will use your rich and famous ass to fix this situation and Monday morning I will sitting on a seat in one of Columbia's huge amphitheater attending my classes, as nothing of this nightmare has ever happened." I finished determinate.

"Sage..."

"Don't you dare call me like that!" I interrupted him fiercely.

"I'm sorry. But please Sydney you have to listen to me. This is not a stratagem to get you in my bed or whatever you could be thinking. [I wasn't thinking about that actually]. The threat is real! You can't go back home and do as nothing has happened. You need to come with me. I have the means to protect you and as soon as we are out of here I'll get in touch with my father's attorneys to annul the wedding if it's what you truly want. Just please come with me. It's for your own good I promise. Your friend Rose can come with us if it will make you feel better." he begged. I imagine this was something he didn't do often.

"It's true Sydney. You are at risk. We don't know what those paparazzi could do to you, or even to your family. We will try to do our best to keep you safe." Dimitri surprisingly intervened. He seemed sympathetic but could I trust him? He was a bodyguard, he was supposed to know his job right?…What should I do? I could feel my headache coming back again...Just great! With all this drama I wondered how I was still standing up. I was about to give in when Rose exclaimed.

"Wait Sydney! You don't need to go with them." she gently touch my arm. "I'm a police officer." she asserted looking straight to Dimitri. I could notice a hint of proud in his eyes. "I can protect her. Besides my father is influential and has...connections...everywhere. He knows people...I'm sure he could help you with the annulment." she added looking at me with a smile.

"Look...I don't doubt your abilities or your father's but I prefer to deal with this situation with my own staff. I don't want to involve more people on this, especially not the cops. Thanks for the help though. And my proposition is still on, you can come with us to keep an eye on Sydney if you want and if you don't trust my personnel. I guess one more pair of eyes wouldn't hurt." Adrian responded.

"You know what? I think it's Sydney's choice." Rose interjected. "Sydney what do you think?" she demanded, looking at me. "Do you want to go with this little brat that you've known for less than 24 hours, and his guard dog" she said pointing at Adrian and Dimitri, "or stay with me and my father to try to find a solution? Because there's no way in Hell I would leave in the same house of these two!" she finished angrily.

"Hey! Watch your language young girl!" Dimitri snapped defensively.

"What? Is my mouth bothering you now? That's funny because it didn't seem to a bit earlier when you were lusting for me!" Rose replied furiously. Oh no, this wasn't good…

"Oh really? For the record, I have eyes too and I can tell you that you weren't very discreet leering at me." he responded satisfied with himself.

"You ass-..."

"STOP!" I yelled before Rose could finish her sentence and say something she would regret. "Both of you just stop! And let me think, please." I pleaded softly, hoping to calm both them and me. My mind was mushed.

God. What should I do? Should I trust Adrian and Dimitri, or play the security card and stay with my best friend Rose?

Once again, I was lost...

 _ **So... what did you think of this one? Did you like the Romitri moments? What should Sydney do? Follow her friend, or perhaps her heart…?**_

 _ **-K**_


	9. The compromise

_**Hey guys, here's another chapter of "Las Vegas baby!"**_

 _ **I hope you are enjoying the story and the turn it has taken ;-)**_

Adrian's POV

After what seemed like hours, a lot of cries, screams, hugs, kisses, apologizes and promises, Sydney finally accepted to come with me and left Rose behind. I knew this wasn't easy for her, she was hurt and I couldn't help but feel bad for that. She chose me over her best friend and that's why I admired her bravery. If the situation was reverse I don't know if I would have done the same. She has been such a strong person and I think that so far, she has dealt with the situation kind of well. Afterall, she just slapped me once, ran away and reluctantly accepted the compromise. I laughed internally.

I sent a text message to my father, just saying that it was an emergency and he needed to meet me at Palm Springs with one of his wolf lawyers. I hadn't the strength to call him and confront his wrath over the phone. I will have the chance to experience all of it in person. I gritted my teeth at the thought.

We left the hotel in a hurry without too much trouble and were now sitting on my private jet heading for Palm Springs. We had taken off an hour ago and Sydney was sleeping on my shoulder. She didn't realized that she had fallen on me but I wasn't going to move either. Oddly, it felt good to have her next to me. Her chest was rising with each little breath she made. In this position, the few undone buttons of her fair kaki blouse let catch a sight of her plain white silk bra. [Okay now I looked like a perv] I needed to look elsewhere quickly. So instead I focused my gaze on her soft face. She looked so much peaceful and delicate asleep. Her wonderful eyes were closed, resting after all the previous drama and the teardrops they had shed. I gently brushed her left cheek with my fingers and kissed her forehead.

"You care about her, don't you?" Dimitri who was sitting in front of us said, startling me at the same time. His remark was more a statement that a question.

"Yes." I admitted. "That's crazy right?" I chuckled. "I mean I've known her for less than a day, and met her when she was tipsy. For all I know she could be a mad psychopath who would try to kill me in my sleep." I joked.

"I don't think so." Dimitri chortled. "But I wouldn't bet on her friend!"

"Right! That girl is insane. You know what she told me before we left the hotel? She asked if I had children and I obviously told her no. Then she said that if I wanted some one day, I should take good care of Sydney." I exclaimed and Dimitri immediately burst out of laughter.

"She threatened my man's parts and you're laughing? Dickhead!" I tried to scowl at him, but ended up laughing too.

"But she is also a hell of a knockout..." I teased. Indeed Rose was easy on the eyes and had what it takes to make a man happy. She was the kind of woman I would have taken to my bed with pleasure, but strangely, she didn't attract me. Nevertheless I couldn't say the same about my dear friend Dimitri.

"Hum...yeah." he slurred sheepish. [Touché!]

"Oh come on Dimka! Only a blind couldn't have seen that you were dribbling in front of her." He glared at me.

"That's okay man, it's perfectly understandable. And I think the attraction was mutual by the way. So have you at least got her number?" I inquired rolling my eyes.

"I...damn it Adrian! You're impossible when you start. Yes she gave me her number before we left." he confessed avoiding my gaze.

"That's my boy!" I smirked.

"But what are the odds of seeing her again. I mean, she lives in NY and we are moving to Palm Springs for I don't know how long." Dimitri stated. He tried to be unfazed but I could detect a bit of disappointment in his voice. Shit! That Rose really got under his skin.

"Never say never my friend." I replied with a small smile.

A few minutes passed before one of us spoke again.

"Adrian..." Dimitri interjected breaking the silence. "What are you going to do if she wants the annulment?" I was appalled by the sudden change of subject, and his direct question but Dimitri knew me too well.

"I...I don't know. Actually I haven't thought about it yet. I guess I will follow her lead and do what she wants, what is best for her, even if it means that I would let pass my chance of having a future with her." These words sounded wrong in my mouth. I knew this sounded crazy, and every person in her right mind would have jump on the annulment to end this situation once and far all but the truth was that I didn't want to sign those papers. Besides, she accepted to come with me so...did this mean that deep down she trusted me? They say that trust is one of the pillar of a relationship, to be honest I wanted to give a shot at what we have, but would she? It's more likely that she agreed to go with me to obtain the annulment and then go away as if all of this, including me was just an unfortunate memory. Just thinking about it made me sick.

Sydney made a mild moan and started to move. She was waking up.

"Good morning sunshine." I grinned, trying to erase the dark thoughts I had just a few seconds before.

She rubbed her eyes. "I...Adrian?" She jerked instantly realizing that she was half laid on me. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay." I cut her. "I've always known that I was a good pillow." I winked at her.

"How are you feeling?" I then asked worried.

"Recharged I guess." She stretched herself and I had to keep all my self control to not look at her opened blouse.

"Are you hungry?" I demanded clearing my throat.

"Hum...not really" she replied still in a sleepy voice. Some strands of hair had escaped her ponytail. I wanted to put them back but I was afraid she would cringe. [Take things slow Adrian…] I couldn't do something stupid now that she was finally coming towards me so I abstain myself.

"Sydney you have to eat, your stomach is all turned upside down, a little food would make you feel better. And..." I vaguely pointed to her head "Your hair is a little messy after your nap...maybe you would like to go freshen up before eating." I suggested hesitantly. She looked at me confused. [Shit! What a douchebag!] Now she was probably thinking that she looked ugly. I wanted to tell her that her hair wasn't the problem. It was me! It just that I didn't trust myself to not touch her.

"Oh? Okay." she eventually acknowledged before going to the bathroom. I tried to not stare at her ass when she stood up but in vain. Those damn pants were a real torture. [When I consider that we are going to stay in the same house...I am so screwed!]

"Maybe you want to go freshen up?" Dimitri parroted while cackling "I think you are the one who need to cold down dude!" he scoffed.

"Shut up!" I snapped. He didn't know how right he was.

I called the stewardess to bring us some food. She was asking what we wanted to drink when Sydney came back from the bathroom. Her ponytail was neatly tied, letting her soft curls whip the back of her neck when she moved her head. She also buttoned up her blouse, thank God!

"What would you like to drink Miss?" the stewardess politely asked Sydney.

"Water will be fine thanks." she replied just as well-mannered.

"And for you Mr. Ivashkov? May I bring you a cocktail, a wine bottle?" the stewardess asked again. Usually that would be what I would order. I often get wasted during the travel, to make the trip passes faster but it was different this time, I needed my clear mind. [I swear that girl was changing me…]

"An OJ please." Dimitri smirked at me and then asked for a beer.

Our meals arrived and we all ate silently. Sydney only ate half of the drumstick and a few green peas. She hasn't even touched the mashed potatoes.

"Didn't you like the food? Do you want something else?" I gently demanded.

"No I'm fine, I told you I wasn't very hungry." she answered.

"But you ate practically nothing." I stated. "Wait are you one of these girls who eats almost nothing to not gain weight?"

"Well... I am just careful with the calories contained in food." she mumbled.

"Sydney! You can't deprive yourself of something that you want because of stupid stereotypes about models. Honestly you are fine, even a little thinner in my opinion. I think you'd look even better if you put on a little weight. It would hide the ribs and get you a bigger bra size." I proposed, trying not to think about her perfect breasts, and how good they felt on my hands...

"Adrian!" she chided but didn't contradict me.

"Okay lovebirds I'm going to sleep. Just don't do something that could shock me forever." Dimitri announced, winking at us.

Sydney blushed and shyly replied "Goodnight Dimitri."

"He was joking, trust me nothing can shock this guy." I reassured Sydney.

"How did you meet Dimitri?" she asked promptly. I was surprised by her question, not a lot of people were interested in my relationship with Dimitri.

"I was one year old when I've met Dimitri for the first time. His mother came from Russia to the United States when he was three. She became my family servant. We lived and grew up together, even attended the same schools. He is my best friend and like a brother to me. Dimitri was always protective towards me and took care of me since I was a child until nowadays, when he has become my bodyguard." I omitted my father's kidnapping and the fact that we might actually be related.

"That's a cute story." she retorted smiling.

"Only a girl can say that." I giggled. "What about you and Rose? How did you become friends?" I was curious about that, at first sight they looked so much unlike.

"We met in junior high school. We were assigned a group paper and instantly became friends. I know what you're thinking, how could it have been possible? Well I guess what they say is true, opposites attract. It's like you and Dimitri, I mean you seem so different."

"True." Opposites attract, she couldn't be more right…

"What about the rest of your family? Do you have siblings?" Hum...Sydney was in a talkative mood.

"I've got one little sister. Her name is Jill. You?" Actually, it felt good to chat with her, and learn more about her. I realized that I didn't know much about her. For instance, I didn't know simple things as the number of siblings she had, her favorite color, flavor...all kind of asinine things that persons usually know from each other before getting married. I reckon that we skipped all the steps, no dates, no family meetings...

"I have two sisters, respectively Zoey and Carly. I'm the middle-one."

"Well if they are as hot as you, I pity your father." Then I remembered the few times she mentioned him, and how dreadful he seemed to be.

"What about your parents...your father?" I still tried.

"Did you call him?" To avoid any craze, we directly left the hotel in the direction of Palm Springs. I knew that Sydney wanted to see her parents before going with me, to explain the situation and her sudden impulse but it was a luxury that we couldn't offered. The risk was too important.

"Before entering into the plane, I called him twice but it went directly to voice mail. Later I received a text message from my older sister Carly, saying that he didn't want to talk to me, and hoped that all of this situation was just a misunderstanding. He told my sister that if I didn't attend classes on Monday he would cut my funds and not pay my tuition anymore. He will disown me. He said that he didn't raise me like that and I was a shame to our family so I didn't deserve to be part of it anymore. He had faith in me, you know, he really thought I was the perfect daughter, after Carly disappointed him by refusing to pursue in medical school. And my younger sister Zoey isn't as clever as us so it is likely that she wouldn't be accepted in a medical field either." she told sadly with tears in her eyes. Wow. I wasn't expecting that, and especially not her utter honesty. Her father was worst than what I've thought. I wanted to kill that son of a bitch. How could someone possibly hate Sydney? She was a perfect, young, beautiful, smart and gentle woman whose big heart had been broken by her bastard father, and all of this, because of me...

"Sydney...I know I've told you that a dozen times and it wouldn't change a damn thing because what is done is done, but I'm truly sorry for all the pain I've caused you." I put my hand on hers and softly brush her knuckles. Surprisingly she didn't pull away, instead she hold and squeezed it with her free hand.

"It's okay Adrian...that day was destined to happen. I knew sooner or later I'd do something that goes against my father beliefs. I've just thought this day would come later and for another reason." She looked up and stared at me. Her deep blue ocean eyes trying to break through my soul.

"Anyways." she cleared her throat and let go of my gaze "What about yours? What about your parents?" She opened her heart to me, so I had to be honest with her too, even tough this was a taboo subject for me. Only my family and Dimitri knew about my father. I took a deep breath and started.

"Well my father is a powerful businessman running one of the most prestigious software companies, that he inherited from his father. He's also a royal liar and cheater. He's never at home, always on business trips, screwing whoever the hell he wants. I guess I take my fondness for women after him. The worst part is the fact that my mother is aware of it but still stay with him instead of dumping his stupid ass. I confronted her many times about this subject but each time she tells me that she stays for me and my sister. That's a lame pretext now because we are both grown up. She says that he hasn't always been like that, it's the job that changed him, that made him crueler, and that this isn't his fault blab-la...What the hell? She always tries to find excuses for his behavior and to defend him. I just think that deep down she is still in love with this asshole which makes me hate him even more. He wants to be angry at me okay, he hates me whatever, I loathe him too but my mother doesn't deserve this. I guess she is too good for him and he doesn't even noticed it." I unleashed furiously.

"Why...why would your father hate you Adrian? Is it because you stand up against him to defend your mother's honor?" Sydney sweetly asked after a few minutes, letting my nerves calm down. I noticed anger in her gorgeous eyes.

"I think it's one of the reasons, but he mostly hates me because I refused to take back the family business. I studied arts instead of commerce and economy. He didn't want to pay for my tuition saying that this field of study was useless, but my mother begged him. And look at me now, I succeed quite well. But that's not enough to hear a little "I'm proud of you son." When I obtained my degree my father didn't come at the ceremony, he said he was busy with work but I know it was bullshit, he was probably entertaining himself with some whore. I guess we are both failures for our fathers." I forced a smile. Sydney and I had more in common than what we thought.

She looked intensively at me during my whole speech. She didn't move or say anything. She didn't judge me but didn't pity me either. And then she did something that took me aback. Her soft lips kissed my cheek resting a bit longer to let me enjoy the delicateness of her gesture.

"Goodnight Adrian." she whispered near my ear, her hot breath doing crazy things to my body. She placed her head on my shoulder just as earlier and let go of my hand to grab my arm, closing her eyes a few seconds later.

"Goodnight Sydney." I gently replied kissing her temple. With my other arm I took a blanket from under my seat and covered us both with it. I carefully position myself to not disturb her and closed my eyes.

Except my mother and sister, she was the only woman to whom I've opened my heart.

And then it hit me with full force: I was falling for her, and I was falling hard.

 _ **I found this chapter kind of cute, what about you guys? What did you think?**_

 _ **-K**_


	10. The arrival

_**Hey guys,**_

 _ **So, in this chapter there are several descriptions of places, rooms...and honestly I'm not super good at this so I hope this is not too bad.**_

 _ **Anyways the rest is good I promise.**_

Sydney's POV

We arrived in Palm Springs at midnight. The flight only lasted three hours, that was less that what I had expected and I spent most of it sleeping with the only exception of the dinner and the conversation with Adrian.

Adrian...I would lie if I said that I didn't feel good and secure sleeping in his arms. He was so nice, he listened to me and didn't judge me at all, he didn't make any attempt to flirt with me or any innuendo. During the flight and the conversation, I realized that I had discovered the man behind the shell in other words, I discovered the real Adrian. Neither the partying boy that television and newspapers reflected, or the facet he had the habit to use to hide his inner demons but the hurt, commiserative, honest, charming and delicate man. I understood that it wasn't easy for him to confess his relationship with his father. Honestly, between his father and mine I didn't know which one was the worst. Perhaps if the two of them met they would get on like a house on fire, afterall they had common points. For instance they both loathed their children and didn't seem to care about their happiness.

I wonder how someone could feel so much hatred about his own child. Adrian followed his dream and in return he got the wrath of his father. Where was the logic in there? _"_ _At least he had the guts to stand against his father not like you Sydney!"_ an evil inner voice said in my head, unfortunately, she was right…

"Sydney are you ready?" Adrian suddenly said, leaving my thoughts behind.

"Hum yes." I spluttered. After landing in a private runway, we took another hidden and private car and Dimitri drove us to Adrian's house or should I say mansion. Wow! That was the most beautiful house I've never seen. It was a mixed of modern and ancient Roman, Greek architecture, everything that I liked. I was flabbergasted.

"I can see that you enjoy the house." Adrian teased.

"That's..." I was speechless.

"Magnificent? Marvelous? … wait to see the inside Miss Sage." he winked at me.

"By the way, Dimitri could you take my luggage meanwhile I take Sydney's?" Adrian demanded politely.

"Oh...that's okay I can take care of it, it's not heavy." The advantage of traveling lightly I thought to myself.

"Come on, a true gentleman doesn't let his lady carry her luggage." he smirked.

"And since when have you become a "true gentleman"?" I scoffed.

"Sage, I was born a true gentleman, now give me that." He replied taking the suitcase from my hands.

"Actually he meant that he was born a true jerk." Dimitri joked looking at me.

"Hey, watch your language around milady." Adrian interjected chuckling.

I couldn't help but laugh, these two were always bickering which was very entertaining.

"I am terribly sorry my Lord." Dimitri mocked bowing "Now, if you have the decency to excuse me, I will go to bed and see you tomorrow your majesties. Have a lovely night my dears and if you are in danger, just yell, I will rescue you." Dimitri jested once again; before disappearing in the huge mansion with Adrian's and his own luggage.

"What a dork!" Adrian sighed.

"I like him, he is funny." I stated.

"He is funny Sage, but I'm hilarious." Adrian bragged.

"You are unbelievable, that's what you are." I smiled.

We were welcomed by a pretty and charming lady a bit older than me, in her late twenties I presumed. She had red hair and blue eyes, a little shade darker than mine.

"This is Sonya Tanner, the housekeeper of Palm Springs residence." Adrian informed me. "And Mikhail, Sonya's husband is our gardener, you should see his works tomorrow during daytime, I'm sure you will love it. The Tanners are more like the masters of the villa if I dare say." Adrian added grinning at Sonya.

"Mister Ivashkov you're flattering us. We are merely the servants here." Sonya retorted blushing.

"Please Sonya, you and Mikhail represent more than that to us and you both know it. Besides, stop calling me "Mister Ivashkov", it looks like my father and you know that I don't like to be compared to him. "Adrian" is fine." Adrian scolded.

"Sorry...Adrian!" she insisted on the last word.

"Nevermind. Sonya, let me present you my w...our guest Miss Sydney Sage." Adrian fumbled pointing at me. He was about to say my "wife" but withdrew at the last moment. Sonya didn't seem to be aware of our wedding and Adrian wasn't in the mood to tell her... yet, I guessed...

"It's a pleasure to meet you Miss Sage. You're so beautiful" Sonya replied cheerfully, hugging me tight at the same time.

"Hum...thanks, you too...I'm...glad to meet you too." I eventually managed to say, once I've found my breath. "And just call me Sydney. No need for formalities." I added coyly.

"No problem. Well, come on in. It's getting quite chilly out there." Sonya invited.

Okay... if I thought the outside was splendid, the inside was...breathtaking. The floor was all marble, the living room was composed of old furniture with modern designs and sofas that must cost more than what average people won in a year. Huge French windows occupied half of the left wall, with view on the scenery that Adrian was talking about earlier and a big screen served as television. The dining room looked more "alive" with lighted scented candles and flowers disposed on a wood and marble table that went in tune with the floor. Despite the fact that it was dark, everything was well lighted with diamonds and gold lamps.

I was looking at the kitchen, which seemed smaller compared to the two previous gigantic rooms but with no doubt as cozy and splendid when Adrian spoke.

"Alright. Sonya did you prepare our rooms, as I've asked?" Adrian inquired.

"Yes, sir everything is ready. Would you like some food or drink? A tea maybe, or a hot chocolate, before going to bed?" Sonya demanded politely.

"I'm fine thanks, I just want to go to bed actually." I admitted. Even though I've slept during the flight, I was still tired. I haven't recovered from that crazy night, the hungover and the time difference between New York and Las Vegas.

"I'm good too Sonya, you can go join your husband in bed, if we need anything we will call. Goodnight and thank you again." Adrian uttered before hugging her.

"Alright. Sleep tight." She waved at us and went away.

"Then, let's go to bed!" Adrian cleared his throat.

Well, it's true that out of context this sentence could be ambiguous.

Adrian took my hand and led me upstairs, where we faced a long corridor and a series of doors. He laid down my suitcase on the floor to free his hand and opened the second door from the right side.

"I think this is the perfect room for you. It is... subtle and refined just like you." I scowled. So he thinks that I'm "subtle and refined" I bet this is not the impression he had the night we met...

"But if you don't like it I can still ask Sonya to prepare you another one." he added, looking at my reaction. "Or you can simply join me into mine..." he snickered.

"I'm sure this one is fine. Thank you Adrian." I answered casually, as if I hadn't heard the second part of his sentence, inviting me to his room.

"I guess I will let you sleep then..."

"Yeah..."

And there we were at that awkward moment, that you often find in movies. Just like in a first date when the guy drives you home and you don't know what to do, if he is going to kiss you, if you should invite him in...Do I want to invite him in? Well I had to admit that the idea was tempting...if I was another girl, and the circumstances were different..[Damn it Sydney stop thinking and just let him go, you're worn out remember?]

Thankfully Adrian put an end to this aching situation by kissing softly...my hand before letting it go. I felt the same tickle as the previous times he had touched me, or in the plane when our hands were entwined and I kissed his cheek.

"Goodnight Sydney, have sweet dreams."Adrian whispered near my ear, his warm breath sending shivers all over my body.

"Goodnight Adrian." I gasped in response. He took a last look at me before leaving to his room which was at the end of the corridor I noted.

I instantly felt cold when he pulled away, the heat of his body was gone and only a faint scent of his cologne tainted by cigarette remained to proved that he passed there.

I entered the room and immediately closed the door before I did something stupid such as going after Adrian. [Why did I have such a good consciousness?]

Adrian was right, the room was indeed perfect for me, I couldn't have wished better. It was painted and decorated in plain tones, mainly cream and taupe colors, a great mixture to my opinion. In the middle of it was a king-sized bed with what I could assume were silk sheets. An immense closet, carpet and a recliner were the only other furniture of the room, which made it looked even bigger. There was a door on the left, which was wide open leading to a sumptuous bathroom. The shower was so huge it could have fitted five persons and had so many buttons that I wasn't sure I could understand how it worked. Again white marble was the predominant feature of the room.

After my little exploration, I eventually managed to take a quick shower without doing any major disaster and slipped on an old gray tee-shirt and black leggings that were used for pajamas.

At first I thought that I wasn't going to be able to have any sleep, knowing that Adrian was only a few doors away but then the exhaustion and the softness and comfort of the bed and its sheets got the upper hand and I slept like a log.

I was waken up by a sunbeam. I stretched still lying in the bed and let out a moan. I felt refreshed, this bed was Heaven. I reluctantly stood up to get dress. I didn't know what time it was but the air was already sultry. So I took the only "summer clothes" that I had brought with me to Las Vegas and put them on. It was a plain sleeveless knee-length light-blue dress which matched with my eyes. I braided my hair and put on just a bit of pink lip gloss and black mascara to emphasized my eyes, nothing more. I wasn't very fond of make-up. I slipped on black flat shoes and went downstairs.

No one seemed to be there so I took advantage of it to look through the French doors of the living room. Among a spectacular green garden full of lovely flowers, bushes and trees was a giant swimming pool and...a holy wet Adrian only wearing swimming trunks who was getting out of it. He grabbed a towel that was standing on a deckchair to dry himself. Each movement he made underlining the hard muscles of his glowing Adonis body. Okay it was definitely hot in there and my dress seemed to be too thigh. I tried to turn over rapidly but it was too late, he waved at me smiling, confirming my suspicions that he had already noticed me leering at him. Crap!

"Good morning sunshine." Adrian greeted me grinning, still shirtless with his hair still damp, giving it a darker color.

"You look beautiful." he said before kissing my cheek, his soft and warm lips resting a little longer just as I did on the plane which didn't help my already aroused state.

"Hi...He-llo, thanks..." I eventually stammered huskily.

"Have you been awake for a long time? Have you eaten anything? Have you slept well?" Adrian bombarded.

"No I just woke up a few minutes ago, and I found no one so I decided to look at the...scenery as you told me yesterday, you were right I love it that's wonderful. And yes I've slept, very well, the room was perfect, thank you for your concern." I enumerated.

"I'm delighted to hear that you love the "scenery" outside. Sonya has gone shopping with Mikhail and Dimitri is working out. I haven't eaten either, come on let's take something." he said leading me towards the kitchen.

We sat next to each other respectively on a high stool near to the counter and ate silently. Adrian made me a light vanilla latte my favorite coffee it was almost as perfect as the ones in Starbucks and forced me to eat a blueberry muffin cooked by Sonya. It was succulent if I didn't think about the calories in it. Adrian stuffed two muffins and a mocha coffee. I didn't know how he could eat so much and be that good physically.

"I didn't know you could make such good coffee." I teased him.

"Well I'm a man of many talents." he insinuated while I blushed.

"So...what do you want to do today Sydney?" he exclaimed abruptly, cutting the tension between us.

"We can't go out because of obvious reasons" he looked grim. "But we can still enjoy the nice weather around the pool."

"Hum...I don't know...I don't have any swimsuit" I rasped the first excuse I could find, which actually wasn't such an excuse because it was true, I didn't bring any swimsuit. But the truth was that I didn't think I could survive a day with a half naked Adrian swaggering around to me.

"Who said you need one?" Adrian replied playfully.

"Adrian!" I automatically chided.

"I'm just kidding, jeez Sydney relax a little bit. Plus, it's not as if I haven't seen you practically naked before." he shrugged.

"Don't remind me of that." I snapped greeting my teeth.

"Well... I can see that it's still a delicate subject for you..."

"Yes it is Adrian. For your information I'm still not over the fact that you saw me practically naked and that I don't remember a freaking thing about it okay!" I barked standing up.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. Please Sydney..." he gently grabbed my arm.

"And I think this wouldn't be a problem because I asked Sonya to buy you some clothes." he added.

"What? I have clothes I don't need you to buy me ones." I screamed.

"Obviously you don't have a swimsuit and you don't know how time much you will be here, you just packed a small suitcase this wouldn't be enough, and I'm sure it's not even appropriate clothes for this weather." he interjected.

"Look it's very nice of you and Sonya, but I really don't need or actually want any of those clothes. Now if you would let me go, please." I tried to sound calm and not look at him. He reluctantly and wordlessly dropped his grip.

I ran to my bedroom and silently wept. Why did every time Adrian and I start to be on the same wavelength, he said something that made me lose control? I realized that I've screwed up once again. I knew I had hurt him. Damn it that wasn't my intention. But how could I accept his clothes, after all he's already done for me? The jet, the accommodation, the food, the security and now the clothes...he could have simply ditched me and let me cope with the situation. Still, he did not. He did not...because he cared about me but did I? Did I care about him? I would lie if I said that I didn't…

I was about to go back downstairs to apologize when my phone rang, startling me at the same time. I have utterly forgotten the existence of my cellphone until now, and it took me several seconds to find it, hidden on my "super purse". I looked at the screen to see that it was...my mother. I answered it, voice quavering before it went to voice mail.

\- Mom

\- Sydney? Sydney is that you? Oh honey I'm so glad to hear your voice, I was so worried, I've called at least 5 times. How are you doing sweetheart?

\- Mom...Mom, I'm sorry I was busy and didn't have my phone with me. I'm fine, well if we can say that, at least I'm in an amazing mansion with food and water, I won't die from starvation or dehydration.

\- Oh honey I'm so relief. Rose told us that you went away somewhere with this boy but wouldn't tell us where it was, apparently she swore not to, for your safety… Sydney...are you really fine? Does...does this boy treat you well? Did...did...he force you to do something you didn't want? Did he threat you in any way? Rose told me all the story she knew and seemed to think that he was a nice man but we never know...he could have hidden his game. Tell me the truth sweetheart...

\- Oh, no mom don't worry yourself even more, Adrian has been a very kind person for me since...the beginning. Frankly I'm fine, just a little bit confused...awestruck...and...definitely lost but I guess it's normal considering the situation...Oh my God mom what the hell have I done?

\- Honey...I acknowledge that this situation is very incongruous and surprising regarding yourself, but I'm sure you will sort it out. Besides if this Adrian is a nice man that is a very good start, isn't it Sydney? Obviously, I wasn't there and didn't know the exact circumstances but I can assure you that if my daughter did marry this man without being forced, it's because there was a reason beyond it, and not a drunken one. I know you to well Sydney.

\- Mom...I really don't know what to do...at first I thought that accepting to go here with him would clarify my mind but it turned out that it blurred it even more...

\- Oh honey, just follow your heart...

\- Well... that's easier said than done mom, but... I will try to consider it … otherwise how are things at home? How are Carly and Zoey? And...dad?

\- Rose's father sent a patrol to keep an eye on us and push the reporters away. We are confined at home but nothing to dramatic. The girls are fine, they say "hi" and that Adrian is very "hot" according to what they've seen on the newspapers and internet, and that you two look cute together. About your father...well it's your father...you know...not surprisingly he is not eager about the situation...I've tried to reason with him but you know how he is… Sweetheart, Carly told me about your call. Don't care about all the mean things he said, you know you will always be welcome in our family and I wouldn't let him kick you out of this house, over my dead body!

\- Mom…

\- I'm serious Sydney. I can't bear his attitude any longer.

\- Just take care of yourself and the girls, please don't know anything stupid that you might regret later because of me.

\- All the things I've done for my girls have never been either stupid or regretful and it would never be.

\- Thank you mom. I love you so much.

\- I know you do honey, and I love you too. Be careful. Oh and before I forget, you should probably call or send a text message to Eddie to warn him that you won't be at school on Monday. I'm sure he won't mind giving you his notes of the lessons, he's a good boy. Goodbye sweetheart and don't hesitate to call if you need to talk.

\- Thanks again and goodbye Mom, I will text Eddie right away, it's easier than a phone call.

I quickly sent a message to my friend Eddie, not entering in the details, even though I was sure he probably knew them through internet or Rose. I met Eddie when I entered college, two years ago. He was timid like me and always alone and kept to himself until one day in a biology tutorial, having no other free seats he sat next to me and we started to talk becoming friends at the same time. It turned out that Eddie knew Rose. They actually went to the same elementary school but he moved before starting middle school, breaking any contact with her. They were young and neither of them had a mobile at that time. So not only I've made a new friend this day, but I also allowed to old friends to renew contacts.

I put the phone down and lied on the bed, eyes closed, trying to turn things over in my head. " _J_ _ust follow your heart._ " My mother's words came back to me...but if only I knew what my heart wanted…

 _ **I know I know, there's always some drama leading to Sydney pushing Adrian away. I'm just leaving their love story pending, don't worry guys it will come soon. I just didn't want to make my story too "fluffy" ;-)**_

 _ **\- K**_


	11. The annulment

_**Hey guys, chapter 11 here we go.**_

 _ **I have fun writing this one, hope you will like it.**_

 _ **Don't forget to review if you want to.**_

Sydney's POV

When I came downstairs, Adrian was nowhere in sight. Dimitri told me that he was in his studio and didn't like to be bother so I just respected his will. He didn't ask me anything but I was sure he knew something was wrong between me and Adrian, and that I was the source of his woe. In the morning, I visited the rest of the house with Dimitri and then we ate lunch on the patio with Sonya and her husband Mikhail. They were very cute together and made a wonderful couple. I spent the afternoon with Dimitri, playing tennis and chess (he won the sport competition meanwhile I won the brain one). We ended up tired and got a tan on the deckchair near the swimming pool, drinking a sweet not to sugary home made lemonade. If Sonya continued treating me that well I would gain 5 pounds per day. Even though I had fun with Dimitri, and the more time I spent with him, the more I liked him, I couldn't stop thinking about Adrian. I really needed to see him.

It was only on the late evening that Adrian finally appeared, getting out of his "lair". He was wearing old faded saggy blue jeans and a tee shirt that had once be white but was now covered in painting smudges of various colors. His hair was messier than usual and he looked exhausted, as if he had spent all day painting like a mad man, which was probably what he did after the way I rejected and yelled at him.

"Adrian..." I started hesitantly, meanwhile standing up and putting my mug on the glass coffee table. I was sitting on one of the leather expensive sofas sipping a black coffee, (not my favorite but it was still coffee), before he came in.

"Adrian I wanted to apologize for my behavior this morning." I continued walking towards him. Even tired and dressed in old dirty clothes he looked hot.

"I was mean and rude when all you did was trying to help me from the beginning." I tried to take his hand but he pulled away.

"I'm sorry I overreacted and I understand that you have all the reasons to be mad at me. For what it's worth I like the clothes Sonya bought me, yet they are a little fancier than what I use to wear but still they are great and seem super expensive." I added with a wry smile, but he was still avoiding my gaze.

"Please Adrian say something." I begged him. He finally looked up at me. I swore I could spot hurt in those beautiful emerald-green eyes.

"What do you want me to say Sydney? You overreacted? Well yes that's a hell of an understatement. The thing is that I don't know what to do with you anymore, I-I don't know how to act around you. One time you seem to get closer and the next you pull away. You send me mixed signals." he snapped.

"Adrian...I-I know, I only thought about myself in this situation, I didn't think about you, how it could affect you. I was being selfish. Th-this is hard for both of us." I sobbed. Idiot salty tears, I thought I've got rid of them earlier. I probably looked pathetic.

"Anyways" I cleared my throat, and blinked a few times, trying to chase away the traitorous tears. "You must be tired so I should let you. Unless you need me for something. Maybe you want to eat or drink something, I'm sure you haven't eaten anything since this morning. Do you want me to call Sonya?" I enumerated. I haven't realized he had walked towards me until I felt his hands on my hips dragging me close to his warm and solid body.

"Sage...stop crying" he whispered huskily "The only "thing" that I want is standing in front of me." He's barely finished talking that his hands slipped from my hips to my face. His thumbs drawing small circles on my cheeks, where the tears were. I instinctively closed my eyes. I knew what was going to happen and this time I wouldn't stop it, simply because I had no reason to. I parted my lips preparing myself for a kiss when suddenly…

"ADRIAN IVASHKOV!" a deep male voice shouted, making me jerk at the same time.

Adrian immediately released me as if he has been caught in a middle of a wild make out session, which unfortunately didn't happen. Worst timing ever!

"D-dad, Dad? What are you doing here? I thought your arrival was only due to tomorrow." he stammered pallid.

I eventually turned my head and got a look of the "intruder". He was wearing a black elegant tailored made suit, probably a designer one with a fair gray shirt and a silk dark blue tie. He was neatly shaved and his salt and pepper hair was perfectly styled. He was tall and had a great figure for his age, in the late fifties I would say...I could see where Adrian got his good looks, but these physical similarities were the only things the two men shared. His "charming" appearance was only a facade to hide a cruel man.

"This is not a way to greet his father!"he replied in a severe voice. "And what are those clothes you are wearing?" he sighed. "I raised you better Adrian. And I took an early flight because you know that I don't like to travel at night, the seats are not comfortable and I always sleep badly which put me in a bad mood." he complained.

I tried not to laugh. Poor thing I'm sure the leather seats of his private jet must be very uncomfortable and concerning his bad mood, does this man have a "good mood"?

"I apologize father." Adrian retorted his voice quivering. He then put on a fake smile and went to shake his father hand.

"I guess this is the "girl" you wedded." Adrian's father said looking at me with disdain. I noticed that his eyes were a dark brown. Adrian must have taken from his mother's eyes, and that's a good thing because such beautiful eyes would be a shame on a devilish man like his father.

"Yes. Father this is Sydney Sage. Sydney this is my father Nathan Ivashkov." Adrian presented looking back and forth at us.

"Mister Ivash-" I started

"Spare me your fake greetings Miss Sage." he cut me before continuing on his diatribe.

"Honestly Adrian, you could have find better. Obviously she is not rich, seems to speak when she is not supposed to, looks stupid and does not have the physical attributes of a model." he then scowled at me. Wow, I was dumbstruck, what an asshole!

"You have no rights to talk about Sydney like that. You don't know a damn thing about her!" Adrian spat furiously.

"Firstly, don't you dare raise your voice to me. I am your father you must show me some respect. Secondly I'm sure you know a lot of things about this girl, especially the ones regarding her body. Thirdly, you once again disappointed me Adrian. It's as if you dedicated your whole life doing it. Money, alcohol, drugs and hookers were not enough that you decided to get married with the first skank you found. If it's another of your desperate measures to capture my attention I acknowledge that it is well done. You've made some stupid mistakes before but this one Adrian...I take my hat off to you. Sadly I am always here to suffer your consequences because of your mother. You are lucky that I can get you out of this situation this time, but I warn you, unless you recover your wits and take back the family company, this is the LAST time I do something for you! I hope I've been clear." he barked.

"Now if you would excuse me, I will go to rest. You should be doing the same. Andrew, my lawyer is expected here tomorrow at 9 AM. Don't be late, and wear something decent. Goodnight newlyweds." he drawled as if he haven't just gone bananas. He must be bipolar, that would be the only logical reason to justify his temperament.

"Don't lump Sydney with the skanks you screw and I don't give a damn about your stupid company. I hate you you're stupid dick!" Adrian blurted shouting, but his father was already gone. Thankfully because even though I appreciated Adrian's come back to defend my honor, I didn't want to watch another fight between these two and see him hurt by this heartless man. A few seconds passed before one of us had the strength to speak again.

"Sydney...I cannot say how sorry I am for the way my father treated you. Just don't care about all the coarse and nasty things he said, he didn't mean them it was just to enrage me and upset you." Adrian finally said, trying to calm himself.

"Tomorrow is going to be a big day and you need to have your mind clear. Go to bed Sydney and have sweet dreams...about me." he winked at me and kissed my cheek before disappearing upstairs just like his father.

Not surprisingly I didn't sleep a wink all night. The sweet comfort of the amazing mattress and sheets weren't enough to appease my worries and I just rolled over in bed rethinking about Adrian's confrontation with his father and...the annulment of our wedding that was going to take place in the morning. At 6 AM I gave up and finally woke up. I spent almost an hour under the hot water spurt of the shower, my skin was getting limp but not my head, my nervousness remained intact. I got out of and took a look at myself in the mirror. I looked awful. I was paler than usual, my eyes were still a little red from the previous cryings, and I had shadows under them, I was going to have to do some magic with my make-up. I chose my clothes carefully, ending up with a black skirt suit that I had in my suitcase and a red crepe long sleeve blouse from Sonya's shopping. I had to admit that the blouse was gorgeous even if the color wasn't something I would have buy. I put on a matching red lacy bra (from Sonya's shopping) and silk black panties (I don't care it if wasn't matching, actually it was one of the only suitable I've found, the rest were a mix of extremely expensive lacy and silky thongs, that were definitely Adrian's idea, as if I would wear those things...he really took his dreams for granted.) I wore my old black flat shoes (don't care if it wasn't "decent" enough for Adrian's father, I just wouldn't risk to break my ankle in the stairs with high heels). I combed my hair in a neatly bun and applied some foundation on my face to mask my signs of tiredness, and my old pink lip gloss and mascara friends. I was ready to go, but it was still early, so instead I checked out my phone. I received three text messages. One was from Eddie who promised to take notes for me and hoped that I was fine. Another was from Rose saying "hi" and the last one was from Carly asking how I was doing with my "sexy husband". I smiled if only she knew the situation...

It was 8:45 AM when I went downstairs and I instantly recognized Nathan's voice. He was in the dining- room looking as neatly as yesterday with a gray suit this time and sitting on a chair near the table, where a huge tray of food and drinks was disposed. Next to him was another man, dressed as good as him, but he seemed a bit older, with his gray hair and not as attractive as him, with his round belly and chubby-cheeked. They were chatting and the other man was stuffing down Sonya's muffins as if he was starving. I bet he was Nathan's lawyer, really not the type of man I would have imagine. They were so eager into their conversation that they didn't notice me.

"Good morning gentlemen." I said clearing my throat and trying to sound as polite as possible.

"Miss Sage!" Adrian's father exclaimed. "I would say it's a pleasure to see you again but clearly I would lie. Anyways at least you had the decency to show up in time." The other man cackled.

"This is Andrew Turner my attorney." he continued pointing at the tubby man as if I hadn't guessed.

"Andrew this is the "girl" my son married by mistake, in case you don't recognize her in those clothes, which are far from that little black dress she wore on the pictures displayed on the newspapers." he added scornfully.

"Just take a seat and eat something while waiting for Adrian."

I put on a fake smile and sat opposite to the lawyer. To say that I hated Adrian's father was a euphemism. I just took a cup of coffee not trusting myself to eat anything, I wouldn't want to throw up on Nathan's stupid sneaky face, that would be so unfortunate.

Adrian arrived ten minutes late. Those minutes have been the longest and most awkward of my life. His hair was in its usual messy style and he looked far worst than me. He had dark rings under his eyes which were bloodshot. He probably didn't sleep either, but unlike me he didn't put on any make-up to cover it. His cologne fragrance was strongly tainted by a cigarette smell. He was wearing a pair of dark blue designer jeans, with a plain fair blue tee-shirt and trainers. Obviously not the appropriate outfit for this kind of meeting. I bet he did this on purpose just to angry his father, and by the look of disapproval in this last one's face, it worked. He took the chair next to me and croaked something similar to "good morning."

"Well, now that everyone is here we can start. I am Mister Turner and will be representing Mister Adrian Ivashkov today. He required my services for an annulment paper regarding his recent wedding. Under the supervision of his father and after studying the case, I made the contract. The annulment will be valid only with both of your signatures. Miss Sage you have to know that there are some clauses in it that you must respect. However, before showing you the contract, I need to ask you a few questions." The lawyer stated with a business voice. It looked more like a trial that an annulment.

"Sure." I answered trying to hide my worry. I was starting to sweat and had a bitter tasting in my mouth.

"Do you proclaim that you didn't know Mister Ivashkov before marrying him?"

"I don't proclaim anything it's the truth."

"Do you agree on the fact that you were drunk during the wedding ceremony?"

"Well...I..."

"Just answer by "yes" or "no"."

"I guess it's a yes."

"Were you under the influence of any illegal substances Miss Sage?"

"No!"

"Did you force Mister Ivashkov to marry you?"

"No."

"Did you try to blackmail him from any manner?"

"No." What the hell was that, it looked like some police interrogation.

"Did you and Mister Ivashkov have any sexual relations that same Friday night?"

"What the hell are those questions? That's none of your business."Adrian interjected suddenly waking up.

"Adrian would you please be quiet and let Andrew talk?" his father intervened.

"No I won't shut up! I didn't demand a fucking questioning but a stupid paper that can void the wedding." he shouted.

"Adrian that is enough! Either you control yourself or get out of here. I was nice enough in the first place to let you assist this." Nathan retorted losing patience.

"Fine, then I'm out of here. And go you and you lawyer fuck yourselves!" Adrian yelled red with anger before slapping the door and leaving.

"Excuse my son bad language. He is under a lot of pressure and doesn't understand what is best for him, he's still young. Andrew, please continue." Adrian's father replied casually.

"Where were we…? Oh yes; Did you and Mister Ivashkov have any sexual relations that same Friday night?" Mister Turner repeated a bit embarrassed this time.

I wish I could spit some sassy comment like Adrian did but actually I was afraid, so I did what I could do and simply and honestly answered the question.

"No."

"Fine, so you cannot be pregnant or at least claim that the child is Adrian's. Perfect, it simplifies things. I am done with the questions Miss Sage. Here is the contract, you can take your time reading it and don't forget, a signature means that you engage yourself into following all the clauses." I could have imagined it but it seemed that there was some sympathy in Andrew's voice. Oddly, he didn't look as threatening as Adrian's father.

"Well don't take forever reading it. I don't have all day, time is money." Nathan snapped deadpan.

I took the paper and started reading it. The first clause announced the object of the annulment " _Both individuals were drunk and unconscious_ _of what they were doing_ _when the event took place._ " Apparently that's a valuable reason to obtain an annulment...nevermind. The second clause was about protecting Adrian's privacy after the annulment, and never make any attempts to try to contact him again...okay...I stopped at the third clause.

"You're giving me a million dollars?" I didn't realized I've talked aloud until Adrian's father answered.

"Unless you want to renegotiate the sum but I think it's a fair amount of money to make you start a new life."

"Wait are trying to buy me?" I retorted.

"Of course not Miss Sage, what kind of man would I be if I did that. Besides everyone knows that you buy women with diamonds not money." Nathan snickered.

I can't believe it, this misogynistic pig was ready to give away a bit of his dirty money to buy my silence and the annulment of his son wedding, killing two birds with one stone. I was disgusted and outraged. I took a deep breath and spat in a voice that sounded far away from my own.

"I don't want any cent of your filthy money and you know what? You can put your money and your damn contract where the sun never shines. And don't worry, I would never say anything that goes against Adrian's safety because unlike you, I respect him!"

With this, I rushed outside letting myself cry one more time. I ran like a mad woman until my lungs couldn't handle it anymore. I found myself in the middle of ones of Mikhail flowers garden and fell to the soft green grass. I didn't know how much time I stayed there, my arms surrounding my knees which were brought to my chest and my head hidden, until I heard someone calling my name.

"Sydney? Sydney is that you?" I recognize Dimitri's deep voice.

"Oh my God Sydney, are you okay? What happened?" he asked worried, sitting next to me on the lawn.

"Nathan Ivashkov happened." I panted.

"C-can you believe that he tried to b-buy me? D-does he think that he can solve everything with his m-money? Is that how wealthy people w-work?" I stuttered, my voice quivering.

"Sadly I'm not surprised. It 's very much in character for him." Dimitri replied honestly while gently rubbing my back. That's one of the things I like about him he always speaks the truth.

"Come on let's go inside and eat something, it will make you feel better." he said standing up.

"I don't want to go back inside and see Adrian's father again." I whimpered. I sounded like a spoil child.

"We will avoid him I promise and with me with you don't risk anything, I'm the bodyguard remember? He won't try to angry me." he smiled.

"Fine." I agreed reluctantly "But I wouldn't mind if you give him a punch in the face of my part." I half joked.

"Get in the line for that." he laughed.

We were getting nearer the house when Dimitri demanded.

"Have you spoken to Adrian about this "incident"?"

"No, he ran away in the middle of the meeting." I responded

"Frankly I don't think he knew about the money issue. I bet his father plotted it behind his back." Dimitri added.

"You may be right." I reckoned.

"You know, maybe this wasn't a bad thing…" he continued.

"What do you mean?" I glared at him

"At the end, you didn't sign the annulment. Perhaps it's a sign, perhaps you should give Adrian a chance. I agree that he could be a little bit arrogant at the edges, but when you have the chance to really know him, you discover that he's also a very nice person and has a big heart, he just has some trust issues because of his father. Besides until you, I've never seen Adrian acting like that around a woman." Dimitri explained

"Did he ask you to tell me this?" I teased.

"He wouldn't need to. Sydney, Adrian is like a brother to me and I care about him a lot, therefore I don't like to see him distraught. By some crazy coincidence you two ended up married, maybe it was your fate afterall. Plus, after the little time we spent together I realized that you are not so bad for a little thin blond girl." he cackled.

"Hey, I will take that as a compliment." I nudged him in the ribs. Crap this guy was made of iron. "And you are not too bad either Mister Belikov." I grinned.

Dimitri was right all down the line, and for the first time since that night, I was finally sure about something...I did not want to sign the annulment paper.

As Dimitri said, maybe I should give Adrian a chance.

 _ **So...Sydney is finally giving their relationship a try. It was about time!**_

 _ **Thank you wise Dimitri and damn you daddy Ivashkov ;-)**_

 _ **-K**_


	12. The chance

_**Hey guys,**_

 _ **Chapter 12 already, I've never thought I would make it so far ;-)**_

 _ **PS: this chapter is a little more "mature" and it's the first time that I've written something of this "genre", I hope this isn't too bad.**_

Adrian's POV

To say that I was angry was an understatement. I was furious, enraged, in a wrath. I rushed towards my bedroom and grabbed a cigarette, not caring that I was smoking inside the house. I needed a drink, but to have one meant to go back downstairs and I did not trust myself to do that without punching my father's fucking face. This son of a bitch dared to insult Sydney. This time he went to far, that was the final straw. It was only after smoking three mint cigarettes and pacing up and down in my room that I started to calm down and realized that in my hurry, I'd left Sydney alone with those two sharks. Goddammit what an ass!

When I finally returned to the dining-room, I thankfully only found my father's attorney. He was tiding up some papers on his brown leather suitcase, ready to go.

"Where is Sydney? And my father?" I spat angrier than I thought.

"Oh, Mister Ivashkov, you startled me." he choked.

"Sorry that was not my intention." I replied softer this time.

"Well... your father left a few minutes ago, saying, that are his words "tell my son to work out his problem without me, I do not want to lose any more time on this." and about Miss Sage...well she went away too...without signing the annulment..." he answered reddening.

"What?" I exclaimed, not sure if I had heard correctly, or if I was just high from the cigarettes I'd smoke.

"Miss Sage did not sign the annulment paper Mister. That is why I let you a copy on the table, if she ever change her mind, just let me know and send me the paper by mail. I would then validate it." he repeated.

"Okay...thank you." I dismissed him but he did not move.

"Is there something else?" I eventually asked.

"Hum...actually...your father did not pay me, he told me to ask you for the money..." the lawyer demanded embarrassed.

I couldn't keep from laughing, that was so typical of my douchebag father, I shouldn't be surprise by now.

"Fine, just send my your bill by e-mail and I will wire you the money." with those last words, we said our goodbyes and he finally left.

I grabbed the annulment paper, to put it somewhere safe and out of curiosity, took a look at it. What the hell? Sydney was offered a million! I thought that my father was an asshole before but he seemed to surpass himself more and more.

I was going to look for Sydney when I saw her coming with Dimitri. I opened the French doors for them. When she spotted me, she threw herself into my arms. I was astonished and a little shaken by her gesture but damn me, I didn't push her away.

"I found her in tears in the middle of the garden in the East side." Dimitri explained. Geez she must have run like a crazy to got so far. Even though she put her face in my chest to hide herself, I could guess that she was crying, by the little sobs that I heard, and her quivers.

"Shh...it's okay Sydney, don't cry honey, I'm here." I softly whispered to her while gently brushing her back. I blurted the word "honey" without noticing it, she just felt so good in my arms and I didn't want to see her cry once more. She snuggled into me.

"I'm so sorry. I swear I didn't know about the money." I kissed the top of her head. Her former neat bun was now all messed up, giving her a sexy "bed head style".

"It's-fine-Adrian-I-I believe you." she stammered croaky.

She eventually stopped crying and looked up at me. Her piercing ocean blue eyes looked darker and were a little red because of the tears she had shed, her lips were trembling and her face was so pale, she could have been an angel, if only she didn't have this despondent look. God, seeing her like that was heartbreaking. Sure I've seen her cry before, too much in my opinion, but it was nothing like this time. I swore that if I saw my father again I would kill him.

"Come on, my father is gone, go sit in one of the sofa and try to relax, I'll make you a light vanilla latte to cheer you up." I said, trying to sound joyful while I reluctantly let her go of my arms. Nevertheless I took her small and soft hand between mine and led her to the couch before heading to the kitchen.

"O-okay" she stuttered, still recovering her voice.

"I guess I will let you have some privacy." Dimitri interjected.

"Thanks man." I dismissed him with a tap on his back and an understanding look.

When I came back with her coffee I couldn't help but stare (or more like ogle) at her. In this position, her skirt was rode up to her mid thighs, allowing a great view to her thin and little tan legs. Her blouse was a bit creased but fitted her wonderfully in all the right places (in other words her breasts), and red was definitely a color that suited her well. She looked like a hot secretary that I wouldn't mind to have working for me, especially...in my bed. Okay that was inappropriate!

Get a grip Ivashkov I chided myself. I was standing in front of her with a hot cup of coffee in hand, that wasn't a good moment to fantasize.

"Here is your vanilla latte." I cleared my throat.

"Thank you." she replied.

"For what it's worth, I think that you look sexy as hell in this outfit." I teased. Well done. All that fuss for not trying to fantasize about her. If I continued like that it would soon be uncomfortable.

"Please, I must look like a mess after all this crying. If it's your attempt to cheer me up, let me tell you that it isn't working very well." she retorted sheepishly.

"You may look like a mess, but it's a hot one." I winked.

"You're unbelievable!" she blushed.

"At least I made you laugh." I smiled smugly.

"True." she stated.

"So, why don't you finish your coffee and go change into something more comfortable...like I don't know..." I pretended to hesitate "a bikini and go join me to the swimming-pool? The sun is shining, and it's a little early to lunch." I proposed tentatively.

"You really want to see me in a bathing suit don't you?" she rolled her eyes.

"Hum...yeah...I mean you've already seen me in one so it would just be fair." I added confidently. I knew I was being selfish on this one, and had something in the back of my mind but I couldn't let escape this occasion.

"Fine, you win." she sighed "Just give me...fifteen minutes and I should be ready." she said taking her coffee with her before heading upstairs.

"No problem." I replied grinning. I was over the moon.

Sydney joined me exactly fifteen minutes later, her punctuality didn't surprise me. She was wearing a pinky sundress with matching flip flops. With the sun-rays, her hair which was loosen and fell on her shoulders and back looked like gold. She was stunning. I waved at her from the swimming pool and she immediately smiled noticing me.

"As much as I like this dress, I thought I requested to see you in a bathing suit." I said playfully.

"I was not going to stroll around the house only in a bikini." she stated.

"Well...I wouldn't mind." I smirked.

"Maybe not you but I would, and I'm not sure Sonya would appreciate." she chided.

"Don't worry about Sonya, must of the time she is a shadow in the house. She's always busy cleaning something that is already clean, that's her thing she doesn't like to sit around doing nothing. Besides, she was the one who brought you the bikini." I drawled.

"While on the subject, I'm sure she wasn't the one who came with the idea of buying me lacy thongs." Sydney blurted red as a beetroot.

"I admit that I may have suggested these ones, but I have no doubt that they must look good on you." I retorted maliciously, trying not to think about Sydney in lacy thongs. Damn it! Why did she bring up this subject?

"I knew it!" she exclaimed genuinely and I laughed.

"Okay so are you going to stand there forever, or show me your talents as a swimmer?" I patted the water next to me, inviting her.

"Nah. I'll pass the swimming pool for now, and stay here getting a tan." she replied with a small smile.

"As you wish then." With this, I swam the crawl trying to impress her, but in vain.

When I contemplated her again, she was lying on a deckchair looking peaceful with her eyes closed and her skin shinning. She was only wearing a turquoise-blue bikini barely covering her assets. I will have to thank Sonya later for that purchase. The rest of her perfect body was displayed for my hungry eyes. I could have spent the rest of my life staring at her like that. Dear God! When I thought that she'd looked hot earlier...This was going to be hard in every sense of the word.

Once I recovered the ability to move, I swam again, trying to evacuate all the sexual frustration. I didn't know how much time passed until Sydney spoke.

"Are you going to stay in the water forever or come near me?" she said mimicking my previous question.

"I was expecting your invitation." I joked.

"As if you needed one." she chuckled.

I got out of the swimming pool and lied purposely gracefully on the deckchair next to her. She was doing her best not to leer at me, but I still spotted it. Looked like she wasn't unaffected either.

"So..." I started "Now that I'm here, let's chat a little bit." I turned myself, lying on my side to face her.

"What do you want to talk about Adrian." she asked cheerfully. I could notice that she was getting better, and looked happier.

"Hum...tell me something embarrassing about yourself." I asked playfully.

"I don't have anything embarrassing to say that you weren't witness of." she replied casually.

"Come on everyone has some embarrassing story to tell. I bet you have one, just think about it." I begged her.

"Fine, but I'm not sure you will find it "embarrassing" well at least it is for me, therefore it should work." she take a breath and started "When I turned 18... I've got a tattoo."

"What!" I cut her taken aback. The words "Sydney" and "tattoo" didn't seem to go in hand.

"Let me explain." she chided. "It was Rose's idea, of course. She wanted to get one but didn't want to go alone, so I accompanied her. Once there, she convinced me to have one too. I swear I wasn't drunk, I still don't understand how I got sucked in, maybe because for once I was doing something that was against my father... anyways, Rose got a "red rose" tattooed on her left breast, near her heart and I got a small golden lily flower."

"Why this tattoo in particular? And wait, where did you have it?" I inquired curious. Because I've seen her practically naked that night back in Las Vegas and even though it was dark I still remember every each of her body, and I didn't notice any tattoo.

"I reckon that I acted in the heat of the moment. Rose chose a flower so I picked one too. Lilies are my favorite and the tattooist showed me one of his draws that I liked so I got it. About the "location" of the tattoo...here is the "embarrassing" part. It needed to be somewhere not too visible and where my father could never find it. I wasn't ready to tattoo my breasts like Rose because... frankly this wouldn't fit me so it didn't let a lot of options...that's why I got the tattoo on the top of... my left ass cheek. It can be hidden with panties." she explained clearly uneasy.

"Holy shit Sage! You're little reckless dirty girl." I exclaimed speechless. That was fucking hot. "Can I see it? I can show you my ass, if you want, to be square I mean. Please?" I pleaded.

"What? No way!" she barked "No one has ever seen it except Rose and I intent to keep it that way. Let's go back to our conversation. It's your turn to tell me an embarrassing story." she scowled at me.

"You're not funny Sydney." I pouted.

"And you're not a child Adrian." she reprimanded.

"Okay! But I don't know if I can come up with something as good as yours. Between us, I will never see you the same from now on." That got me another glare.

"Well...let me think... when I was 18 too, I might have kissed one of my mom's friends." I mumbled.

"What? Oh my God that's disgusting!" she snapped.

"Hey! I was a bit drunk I admit, and she was like what? Forty? Besides she wasn't that bad looking I mean for her age, she was well maintained, and she was the one who kissed me on the first place." I defended.

"That's still gross." she repeated and then started to laugh.

"Are you making fun of me Sydney?" I asked coyly.

"I'm sorry but this story is just hilarious." she said in the middle of two bursts of laughter.

"That is not very nice." I chastised and then started to tickle her, enjoying the contact of my fingers on her skin. She tried to resist but gave up eventually and tickled me too. We stayed like that, catching and laughing to each other until Sonya called us to lunch.

Sonya cooked delicious cheese omelets for me and the rest of the boys (Dimitri and Mikhail), and vegetable ones for her and Sydney. Ah...women and their care for their weight, not that I would complain…We ate talking about everything and nothing, and I noticed that my three friends kept smiling brightly at Sydney and me. At least they supported our couple which made me love them even more.

After lunch Sydney drank her usual coffee, I swore this girl was addicted to it. I might say that coffee was for her what cigarettes were for me, even if I've tried to limit my consumption around her. Strangely, I didn't feel the need to smoke when I was with her, probably because I was happy and relaxed around her so the nicotine wasn't necessary to my organism.

We played tennis and as the gentleman that I was, I let her win. Frankly, for a novice she managed splendidly but that wasn't enough to beat me, after all I played tennis since the age of 8. But seeing this proud look on her face didn't make me regret my decision. I then tried to initiate her into painting but there's was a long way to go and it ended up in a painting fight. Thankfully it was acrylic paint.

After showering (separately, for my misfortune) and dinning, we were now watching some crap on TV. I wasn't paying any attention at the program and was instead looking out of the corner of my eyes at Sydney. How could anyone blame me? The wonderful woman sitting next to me was far better that any stupid show. She had changed into a light white knee-length dress with spaghetti straps and her loosen hair was curvier than usual due to the recent shower. How badly I wanted to ran my fingers through those gorgeous blond hair...through her soft skin which vanilla's smell drove me crazy. How badly I wanted to taste her sweet rosy lips...touch her in unholy places…

I was pulled out of my fantasies by Sydney's sudden speaking.

"Adrian...can I ask you something?" she said hesitantly.

"Y-yeah-s-sure-any-anything." I stammered hoarsely, my mind was still trying to return to the earth.

"Why did you marry me? Why me and not someone else?" she asked "And don't say because I'm beautiful." she warned trying to sound menacing.

"Oh boy, that's a very good question." I cleared my throat…

"Maybe I married you because you were one of the rarest women to see me as "the actual me" and not the Adrian Ivashkov that the media proclaimed, even if some of the things they said weren't completely false. The thing is that you didn't know who I was, so it was a leverage for me. I didn't need to act like people wanted me to be, you didn't expect that from me." I answered truthfully.

"Really?" she looked at me hopefully.

"Really Sydney. I might have been a bit drunk but I was still conscious of what I was doing and I don't regret it." I replied looking straight into her gorgeous eyes.

"Can I ask you a question too?"

"Yes." her eyes were still on mine.

"Why didn't you sign the annulment this morning? You could have taken the money and leave, as if nothing had ever happened. It would have avoid you many problems." I demanded seriously.

"Well, that's a very good question too." she parroted me.

"Indeed I could have taken the money and leave, but I did not. Maybe I didn't sign the annulment because I did not want to. Maybe because what I actually want is to give us a try, to give "this actual man that I'm one of the rarest women to see" a chance." she grinned.

It was all I needed to hear. I delicately pushed a few locks of her hair to expose her neck and kissed the sweet spot there, probably leaving a hickey. She bit her upper lip trying to hide her lust, but I could feel her pulse immediately speeding up under my lips.

"A-Adrian what are you doing?" she gasped.

"Something I should have done a long time ago." And had actually craved to do all day, but I kept that thought to myself.

I carefully pushed her on her back and lied her on the couch in such a way that she was under me. Looking into her fiery blue eyes, I cupped her face and brought my mouth to hers. At first I brushed her lips, waiting for her reaction while studying the outline of her mouth and touching her silky hair, and then teased her with my teeth. When I gently nibbled her upper lip, she let out a soft whimper and parted her lips, which gave me access to the inner of her mouth.

Still staring at her eyes, I delved my tongue into her mouth. This time she wasn't drunk, she was conscious of what she was doing and I'll make sure she remember it. I kissed her harder, bringing my body closer to hers so that they was no room between us, which made me instantly groan and harden. She responded passionately, meeting every trust of my tongue, running her fingers into my mane, her moans becoming louder and intenser.

When we were both breathless I reluctantly moved away from her and stood up before I did something that I could regret. For the first time in my life I "rejected" a woman, but hell it wasn't because I didn't want her. It's just that Sydney wasn't any woman. I wanted, needed to know her better before making love to her even if this could kill me.

"Thanks for giving me a chance Sydney. I will try to make good use of it, I promise." I said before going upstairs to take a cold shower and release myself.

And that was when I realized that I wasn't falling for Sydney, but rather that I'd already fallen for her.

 _ **Well...that was starting to get hot in there…**_

 _ **What did you think?**_

 _ **Do you want more?**_

 _ **-K**_


	13. The storm

_**Hey guys,**_

 _ **I hope you are still enjoying this story!**_

 _ **Here is a short chapter with a little idea that I had, to make you wait while I'm thinking about the continuation of the story...**_

Sydney's POV

I was left breathless, panting and aroused on the living-room sofa. A few minutes passed before I regained consciousness. Adrian kissed me and I kissed him back. And I loved every minute of it. Oh yeah I did! It was so...there were no words to describe it, except that it was marvelous. When his lips touched mine, I forgot everything as if by magic. I was enthralled by his gorgeous emerald green eyes, and just let myself go. The few awkward kisses that I'd shared with Brayden were nothing compared to this one. This one wasn't gross and Adrian clearly knew what he was doing. But above all, it was what I felt during the kiss. It wasn't only a physical connection, there was something beyond it, something I couldn't name yet, but I thought Adrian felt it too. He stopped things before they got out of control, just like the night in Las Vegas. I had to thank him for that because honestly if that was what I felt with just one kiss tonight, what did it look like that famous night where we were both half naked? Was it like that? Or even better? God why couldn't I remember this? I was ashamed now. We might have shared such incredible moments and thanks to my drunkenness I couldn't remember a damn thing. I swear that I will never drink alcohol again!

After my moment of retrospection, I went upstairs and changed into a pair of pale blue cotton short and a navy blue tank top. I brushed my teeth, reluctantly chasing away Adrian's taste in my mouth but honestly I couldn't go to bed without brushing my teeth it was one of my habits.

I had barely closed my eyes when a big storm started to thunder. Awesome! I tried to let it go at first but the sounds became louder and I was able to notice the lightnings throughout the huge bay window despite the thick curtains and frankly that scared the hell out of me. An hour or so passed and I was still fully awake, tossing in bed. Between the storm and the images of the previous day which were parading in my head, it was clearly impossible to sleep. So I woke up and on an impulse, decided to go to Adrian's room.

I was standing in front of his door and suddenly didn't felt so confident. Maybe it was a bad idea... I should probably just go back to my room, where I couldn't sleep because of the thunder and would be thinking about Adrian and the fact that he was only a few doors next to me. [Nah, come on get a grip Sydney!]

I took a deep breath and knocked hesitantly, waiting. No answers. I knocked a second time a little louder, maybe he didn't hear me the first time. God that was so stupid, he was probably sleeping like a log. I was about to leave when the door half-opened.

"Sydney?" Adrian blurted surprised.

"Oh-hey-hum-I-hope-I-didn't-wake-you-up?" I stammered losing all of my previous confidence.

"No, actually I was...taking a shower." he replied embarrassed. Why was he showering at this hour of the night? Okay, maybe I didn't want to know.

"Do you want to come in?" he asked clearing his throat.

"Well...if it doesn't bother you..." I replied honestly.

"You'll never bother me." He smiled while opening the door. And that's when I noticed that he was only wearing a small towel around the waist barely covering his assets, the rest of his body in full display for my pleasure. The Gods were probably against me I thought! After getting an eyeful of him I reluctantly looked away and studied the room. It looked bigger than my room, if it could even be possible and was both similar and different from mine. Indeed the furniture was the same but the colors were just the opposite. Meanwhile my room was plain this one was bright with a mixture of apple green, yellow and orange colors. It looked crazy at first and was very flashy but actually it was amazing, and creative. Yeah that's the word, which went in tune perfectly with the owner of the room, in other words a mad artist.

"Hum Sydney, not that I would complain but to what do I own the pleasure of your nightly visit?" Adrian demanded, interrupting my room contemplation and thoughts at the same time.

"Well...this might sound stupid but...I-I'm afraid of thunder and lightnings so I wasn't able to sleep and...I-I was wondering if maybe...I could spend... the night with you...I mean stay with you, if you don't mind of course?" I stumbled sheepishly.

"This isn't stupid, we all have our fears besides a lot of people are afraid of thunder and coming from you it's a kind of cute." he smiled.

"So do you want to sleep with me then?" he demanded casually.

"What? No!" I interjected astonished. Was he really offering me...sex?

"I meant in my bed Sydney." he explained chuckling.

"Oh! Oh! I thought you were talking about...nevermind I'm sorry. Oh God that's so embarrassing." I replied blushing.

"Well, unless you have other plans, which wouldn't mind me either." he added smirking.

"No...no it's okay just... sleeping. I will take the recliner it's fine I just don't want to be alone." I mumbled.

"Come on that's ridiculous. The bed is big enough for both of us, besides it's much more comfortable. And don't worry I'll behave." he retorted grinning.

"Fine, you won! It's late and I don't have time to fight anymore." I agreed, after all I trusted him. I was walking towards the bed when he interjected.

"Just before I forget maybe I should warn you about something..."

"Yes?" I looked at him frowning. I didn't know what time it was but was actually getting tired.

"I am used to sleep naked." he said seriously.

"WHAT?" I barked horrified. No way I was going to sleep in a bed with a naked Adrian. Just the thought of it and I went as red as a beet. I needed to get out of this room, coming here was definitely a very bad idea. I was heading to the door when he grabbed my arm, stopping my poor escape attempt at the same time. He turned me over and with his other hand he cup my chin, forcing me to look into his eyes.

"Damn I was kidding Sage. You should have seen your face, that was priceless." he laughed

"That was not funny." I snapped while I gave him a small tap in his hard well-defined chest. His skin was so soft and he smelled incredibly good. I had to ask him the brand of his shower gel. Suddenly I realized that our bodies were only a few inches apart and our mouths were very close. He was still wearing the small towel, and was staring at my breasts which didn't let much to the imagination with my thin tank top and no bra. Well it wasn't as if he hadn't seen my boobs before...

"You're right, actually it was rather..."adorable". Just a few hours ago you were wildly kissing me and now you're blushing because I said my name and the word "naked" in the same sentence." Adrian whispered near my ear, his mouth dangerously too close.

Red alert! This time it was my turn to stop things! Even though I really liked the previous kiss and wouldn't mind a repetition of it, I didn't come to his room for this. I've just accepted the fact that I was married to Adrian and gave him a chance. All in good time, I didn't want to rush things between us.

"Hum...I should go to bed, this day exhausted me." I managed to say, trying to get away from the temptation of his delicious body.

"Yeah." he blinked. "I-I'm going to put some boxers on and then join you to bed. To sleep of course." he added clearing his throat, before heading to the bathroom.

The bed was still made, so I carefully undone it. It was a king-sized bed just like the one in my room and the sheets were silky too, but I didn't know if it was because Adrian slept in it, the bed seemed more comfortable and the sheets even softer. Despite the fact that I was alone in the bed, I could still feel Adrian's presence, his scent was everywhere. I lied on my side, so that I didn't face the window. I've just finished to install myself in the bed when I heard thunder, which made me instantly shiver. With the noise I didn't noticed that Adrian had sneaked into the bed until I felt his arm around my waist and his breath against my hair.

"Ssh, it's okay Sydney, I'm here, you don't have to be afraid now. Just focus on my voice and close your eyes." I did like he said. His arm shifted from my waist to my back, and he was gently brushing it with his hand, trying to lull me. I was very aware of his warm body just right behind me, and each touch of his hand sent shivers, good ones this time through my spine.

"Just relax, it's time to sleep now." He whispered as if trying to hypnotize me. Strangely, it was working because I felt my body released immediately. He had a very soothing voice. He actually took advantage of my relaxation moment to place himself in such a way that he was spooning me, just like that morning in Las Vegas when I woke up in bed with him, with our legs entangled. But this time it didn't bother me, I actually felt safe in his arms.

"Good night my beautiful Sage. Have sweet dreams." He eventually said before kissing my collarbone, his lips were like a feather on my skin.

With these last words, I fell into a deep sleep.

 _ **Aww, that was cute right? What did you think of it?**_

 _ **Any suggestions on how you would like to see the story heading?**_

 _ **Just let me know ;-)**_

 _ **-K**_


	14. The confession

_**Hey guys,**_

 _ **here is chapter 14 already !**_

 _ **I hope you are not disappointed by the turn of the story, maybe it wasn't what you thought it was going to be…?**_

 _ **Anyways, you might notice that I've written Jill a little older than in the original story, like the other characters actually, you will understand later why ;-)**_

Sydney's POV

Two weeks have passed since my arrival in Palm Springs. Two wonderful, exquisite weeks which were probably the best of my life. I spent the days enjoying all the goods of this luxurious mansion and the sunny weather, with at my side Dimitri who became a very good friend, always here to make me laugh, Sonya and Mikhail who were so nice to me, considering me as an official member of the family and last but not least my gorgeous husband (the word still sounds a bit weird in my mind) Adrian.

Since the day of the storm, I spent my nights in his bedroom, only sleeping… (okay maybe not only sleeping). Things had gotten intenser and hotter between us. Each nights things went a little bit further, the kisses, the touchings...and the clothes were getting fewer and fewer but we were still able to stop before the big step, event though sometimes it was hard especially for Adrian (no pun intended).

We became used to one another and felt into this lovely routine. We got to know each other better, from simple things as our favorite colors, flavor, movie...to deeper secrets and family. I learnt more about Adrian's sister Jill. She is 18 and wants to study fashion (this is definitely an artist family) but of course her father is against it (what a surprise?). However Adrian promised her that he would pay for her school no matter what. He talked a lot about her and I could see by the shining in his eyes that he really loved her and was proud of her, he would do anything for her. I wish I had a big brother too, who would take care of me as he did…

Anyways I reluctantly realized that all good things come to an end, and that I had to come back to reality and leave this marvelous heaven on earth.

It was a sunny Saturday afternoon and as usual we were sunbathing near the pool. Adrian looking sexy as ever with his messy hair and a pair of black sunglasses was lying on a deckchair next to me, only wearing a short pair of blue-green swimming trunks letting the rest of his delicious body in full display, for my greedy eyes. A thin layer of sweat covered his perfect chest, making his skin shine with the sun and every girl drooling at the same time, me including, especially when I knew how soft and hard the skin of his six packs abs felt under the touch of my fingers. I was starting to feel this familiar heat which made my whole body tingled and my skin scorched and found myself staring at his V-line and in particular at the thin little black trail of hairs that led to his…

"Sydney if you keep ogling me like that I'm not sure I'll be able to keep my hands for myself any longer." Adrian interrupted hoarsely, stopping my fantasy.

"Oh God. I'm sorry, that's so embarrassing." I blurted red as beetroot, quickly turning my head, looking at the pool.

"You don't need to apologize for that. I mean I can totally understand that you like what you see." he boasted chuckling. Wow his ego must be the size of Texas!

"Besides, this body is all yours sweetheart, so you can fantasize about it as much as you like, if in return I can do the same with yours." He added smirking and looking at me with bedroom eyes, staring at some parts more than others. Today I was wearing a flashy yellow Victoria Secret bikini with a strapless fringe bra which fastened with a clip in a back to maintain my average breasts. I wasn't the kind of girl who felt at ease in a bikini and I knew that I didn't have the body of a model, but Adrian's gaze made me feel good, desired, sexy and I loved it.

I was taken aback when I felt Adrian's warm body hoovering me, his arms were placed at each side of my face and he was resting all his weight on his elbows to avoid crushing me. Either I was once again daydreaming, or he was Flash because I didn't see him coming.

"You really thought that you could lust after me wearing this and get away unscathed." he whispered in croaky voice near my ear. He then gently kissed and licked the sweet spot in my neck which made me moan involuntary every time he did that. He was starting to know my body better than myself and be aware of all its weaknesses.

"Adrian." I tried to speak, as he continued his sweet torture, nibbling my collarbone and his hands traveling up my stomach, sending shivers.

"As much as I like to see you in this..." He looked at my bra. "I would prefer if you take it off." He added stroking my breasts with his hands throughout out the thin material which made my back arched instantly, letting him access to unclasp it.

As much as I liked this, I had to stop it. So I grabbed his wrists before he had the chance to unclasp my bra, which meant that I was very fast because oh boy he could unclasp bras in two seconds. If this was an Olympic game he would win it hands down for sure. Unfortunately he thought that my action was some sort of kinky move and with a devilish look he attacked my mouth, kissing me languorously and wildly. As always, I found myself lost by his soft lips, wet tongue, sharp teeth and intoxicating taste... for God knew how much time, until we were both breathless.

"Adrian..." I panted, trying to catch my breath and come back to reality. My pulse was bumping as if I'd run 6 miles. "We...we need to talk."

"Sage..." I noticed that he had the tendency to call me Sage when he was flirting or excited.

"I think that there are more interesting things to do right now that talking." With these words he pushed his body closer to mine, aligning all the good parts, making me very aware of his arousal.

"Don't you think?" he added while rubbing against me. I let escape a small whimper and he groaned. Okay he wasn't making things easy.

"Adrian, we really need to talk. It's important. Please..." I begged him. I knew this word would make him stop, it always did. It was my safe word during hot make-out sessions. After a few seconds, he grunted and reluctantly pulled back.

"Did you really have to choose this specific moment to have a conversation." He complained with puppy eyes. If I didn't know him better I could have fallen into his trap.

"I'm sorry okay. I promise to make it up to you later." I replied and winked at him. This all flirtatious game was new to me and it was awkward at first because I wasn't used to this but Adrian made sure to teach me how to play and I felt more and more confident.

"I can't wait Doctor Sage." he retorted emphasizing the word "doctor" and smirking, with a mischievous look in his eyes.

I blushed immediately, my nerves tingling at the memory. He's only called me like that once, and it was during our hottest moment. I was playing the role of the "doctor" examining his patient who was suppose to tell me where it "hurt". Obviously this ended up with Adrian guiding my hand... we all know where. It was the farther we went before I felt uncomfortable, even tough we both kept our panties. But Adrian was comprehensive and patient, as always he made sure that I agreed before doing anything. That was one of the things that I liked most about him apart his sexy body of course.

"Sydney if you want us to talk you really need to get dress." He interjected tearing me from my daydream once again.

"I'm having a big issue right now." He added pointing at his trunks. Indeed "big" was the word.

"Fine, go get a cold shower while I change into something less... conspicuous." I grinned and gave him a little tap in his perfect ass before heading to my bedroom. (What I can say? I just couldn't resist.)

An hour later, Adrian and I were sitting in the kitchen, drinking coffee and eating Sonya's chocolate cookies (just one for me). Adrian was wearing a charcoal-gray tee-shirt and black shorts and I had changed into a pair of blue denim shorts and a turquoise tee-shirt. Now that we were dressed, the sexual tension had eventually decreased. So I started talking.

"Adrian… I had been thinking and I realized that this situation, this way of life, as good as it is, this can't last-"

"What do you mean Sydney?" he snapped, looking at me with worried eyes. Oh God he was probably thinking that I was going to leave him. I gently took his hand into mine.

"Adrian I have to come back to New York. I have to come back to my old life. It's been two weeks now. I've been missing college, sure my friend Eddie sent me the lessons but it's becoming hard to catch up. And...I like to be with you, here in this magnificent house I really do, but I miss my mom, my sisters, Rose and...my father, sooner or later I will have to confront him. I can't stay hidden here forever." I admitted honestly.

"Sydney..." He was brushing my cheek with the tips of his free fingers. "You know that I would support you no matter what, hell you are one of the rarest person who believes in me, but are you sure about this? Is it really what you want? There's always a solution to make things work. We can invite your family, your friends to come here and visit us, the house is big enough. And about college, you told me once that your real dream was to study Greek and Latin architecture and history, I bet we can find a university which offered those classes, maybe in LA... I'll pay for it, you don't need to worry about the money." He stated confidently.

"Adrian..." I smiled, his gentleness touched me. He was right about the fact that I believed in him. Most of the people misjudged him at first sight and only a few knew the real Adrian, the one beyond the mask, the caring, sweet, funny, artistic, gorgeous man.

"Your ideas seem very tempting but they are also crazy. I've already spent two years of my life studying medicine, it's too late now to change besides I kind of like it you know, it's very interesting." I continued.

"It's never too late to change Sydney, two years "lost" are nothing, you're still young, it's now that you have to make mistakes not later, when you will be stuck in a job that you don't like for the rest of your life. Don't get me wrong, I like Doctor Sage especially in the bedroom, but to do this job I think you need more than being "interested" in it and "kind of like it". You need to love it, adore it, you need to give a part of yourself to it, have faith in it to save lives and listen to people complaining about their problems and examine them and by the way those people won't be as sexy as I am." He stated fiercely.

Wow. I was dumbstruck by his speech, who would have thought that Adrian was such a philosopher… Some of the things he said were true, and I reckoned that I'd already thought about them, but it was too hard to acknowledge them in front of him. I wasn't strong like him, I couldn't face my father like he did.

"Are you saying that I can't be a good doctor?" I replied lying to him and to myself at the same time.

"That's not what I'm saying and you know it. You're just trying to divert the conversation Sydney." Damn it! Why did he know me so well?

"Listen, I know this isn't easy, and you need to think about it. I understand, but please just take into consideration what I've said. Now if you really want to come back living in NY, we can do that. I will do whatever you want, always, keep that in your beautiful mind." He said gently and kissed my lips softly, his touch like a feather.

"Thank you." I whispered with watering eyes, his affection was so sweet that it made my heart ached.

"Don't cry sweetheart." He retorted before cuddling me.

Before meeting Adrian Ivashkov, I've never believed in the word "love". I've always thought that it was some kind of thing that only excited in fairy tales and stories, just a stupid word that even science couldn't define properly.

But perhaps I was wrong...

 _ **So what did you think about this one?**_

 _ **What should Sydney do? Go back to NY or accept Adrian's crazy proposition?**_

 _ **Just let me know ;-)**_

 _ **-K**_


	15. The return

_**Hey guys, I'm so sorry for the delay, I know it's been a very long time, but I didn't forget the story,**_ _ **I swear.**_ _ **I was just busy, I've read a series of books and then went on vacations...anyways I'm finally back and here is another chapter to prove it.**_

 _ **PS: Little reminder for those of you who forgot where I left things, Sydney was torn between going back to NY or stay in this Palm Springs paradise with Adrian…dilemma dilemma...**_

Adrian's POV

At Sydney's request, we came back to New York the next day, after packing and saying our goodbyes to Sonya and Mikhail. I saw that it was hard for Sydney to left them because despite the few days they spent together, she still got strongly attached to them and even though she promised to keep in touch, she couldn't help but cry at our departure.

The travel was silent and I could feel Sydney's nervousness and sadness, so I just kept her in my arms during the whole fly and kissed her gently trying to appease her as best as I was able to.

I was sitting in a car with Dimitri in front of Sydney's house, waiting agonizingly for the return of her confrontation with her father because she didn't let me come with her, in the hope of a better talk. Besides, a police car was parked near the house still there to patrol in case of any crazy paparazzi coming. Two weeks had passed so the craze was fading, especially after a new rock star had made an overdose so it was the new gossip of the moment but still, we never knew.

"I'm sure she is fine and Rose is with her so if he tries any physical attempt she would kick his ass in less than a minute." Dimitri said, trying to reassure me.

"I guess..." I responded not very convinced "Don't get me wrong I'm sure Rose could defend Sydney especially after the way she threatened me, but it's more the emotional aspect of the conversation that worries me. Anyways how do you know that Rose is in there? It could be any officer from the plain police car parked there." I retorted trying to divert the conversation.

"I-I may have texted her when we landed and she told me she was in Sydney's house. She's used to be here during the weekends." he answered stammering.

"I knew you couldn't get that little brunette out of your head!" I exclaimed grinning. "So...did you make any kinky plan for later?" I teased, seeing Dimitri all embarrassed was the delight of my day.

"What?!" he blurted.

"Oh come on, don't tell me you didn't think about it?" I laughed.

"I-I dammit! I invited her to dinner, that's all." he replied reddening. Dimitri may be 6 foot tall but sometimes he was so shy, that it was almost adorable.

"You've always been the most romantic of us." I snickered.

"Says the man who is drooling all over his wife and doing "everything you want honey"." He snapped back, regaining his sass.

"Shut up dickhead!" I joked and he laughed back. That's what I liked about Dimitri, he was always here to make me laugh and joke. Talking to him was easy, he could put anyone at ease in less than a minute and make you forget your problems.

A few moments later, a crying Sydney with two big suitcases in each of her hands and an angry Rose burst out of the house. Rose was muttering a series of curses that would have shocked more than a priest and the only thing I comprehended from her blasphemous speech was something like "If it wasn't for your mother I would have killed this motherfucker!".

I looked at Dimitri and said "Go talk to your girl and I will talk to mine." before I ran to Sydney.

She let go of her suitcases and threw herself into my arms, she was shaking uncontrollably and weeping as I've never seen her before.

"Sydney...honey, ssh, it's okay, I'm here..." I whispered softly while rubbing gently her back, I didn't know what to say…

It seemed like an eternity before a sound came out of her mouth, Dimitri was gone with Rose in her car and we were left alone near mine, a yellow mustang

"He-he threw me out of the house Adrian." she stuttered in between sobs.

"Come on, let's go to my apartment, it's getting late and cold. I'll make you something to drink, something to soothe you and we will talk once you feel like it." I replied and reluctantly let her go of my arms to put her in the car and take her luggage.

My flat happened to be only twenty minutes away from Sydney's parents house. It was late so the building was quite. My apartment was neat and the fridge and closets were full thanks to my cleaning lady Dorothy. I led Sydney to my bathroom and give her some privacy. I went to the kitchen to prepare her favorite coffee: a vanilla latte and some toasts to force her to eat a bit because I firmly knew that she hadn't eaten anything since the half Caesar salad in the plane at midday. I quickly sent a text message to my sister Jill to tell her to report her visit to tomorrow, saying that I was tired. She probably knew that I was lying but nevermind I would tell her the truth when I see her. I didn't want to trouble Sydney even more today. I love my sister but sometimes she can be a little unbearable, I bet she is dying to meet Sydney and ask her a series of questions.

Sydney came out of the bathroom half an hour later, her blond hair still damped, looking darker. She smelled like my shower gel and shampoo and was only wearing one of my tee shirt that she must have found in my dressing. She looked hot and in other circumstances this might have led to one of my fantasies but now wasn't the moment. I needed to focus.

"I made you some toasts and a coffee." I said pointing at the things on the table.

"Thanks, and thank you for earlier too." she replied softly before sitting on the chair next to me.

"It's okay sweetheart, you don't need to thank me." I replied tenderly, looking into her gorgeous ocean eyes. Those same eyes that have been my main source of inspiration for my paintings these last days and that were still red from the previous tears they had shed. She opened her mouth to answer me but no sound came, she hugged me instead. Sometimes silence was better than words.

"How bad it was?" I finally asked.

"Very." she answered sadly.

"I'm so sorry Sydney, I wish I could have done something." I responded lamely.

"You couldn't. No one could, not even Rose or my mother. To hear the things he said through my sister Carly was a thing but to hear them through him, in front of me, in real, it was...horrible. Oh Adrian, if you've seen him...he was so furious, yelling at me, my sisters, my mother I didn't recognize him, I swear that man wasn't my father, it was impossible. He called me a slut Adrian, a "slut" my father who never swore, who never insulted me in my whole life. He said that I was a shame for him and that all his coworkers and patients looked at him with disdain because of what I've done. He said that even if I returned to my senses and divorced you, it wouldn't change anything because it was too late, his image was already tainted andthat I shouldn't try to contact him again. And you know what was the worst? The worst part of it, the most hurtful? It was the fact that during his whole mad speech, I couldn't talk Adrian, I was petrified, I couldn't say a word to defend myself, Rose tried but he stopped her abruptly. I didn't have the strength to confront him like you did with you father Adrian. The only thing that I was able to do was to contain myself long enough to not cry in front of him." She told me in an uneven voice. I could notice how hurt she was, how heartbroken that son a bitch had left her. If I ever have the misfortune to meet this rotten, heart of stone bastard I would kill him by my own hands.

"I know it's hard but don't let his stupid nonsense words affect you Sydney. You are a thousand times better than him and he doesn't deserve to have you as a daughter. You don't need him anymore, you've got me now. From now on, it's you and me Sydney. It's you and me against the world." I eventually replied hoarsely while brushing her cheek.

"Oh Adrian, what would I do without you." she whispered softly, staring so fiercely into my eyes that I could see my own reflection in them.

"That's the one million dollars question baby." I joked before kissing her delicately on the lips. I was rewarded by a faint smile.

"Come on let's go to bed." I added holding her hand and leading her to my bedroom.

 _ **It was a short chapter I know, after all this time I could have done better I agree, but I promise to do something better for the next one.**_

 _ **Hopefully you wouldn't need to wait so long for it ;-)**_

 _ **-K**_


	16. The painting

_**Hey guys,**_

 _ **As promised here is a longer chapter and updated only a week after.**_

 _ **However I'm starting college again tomorrow so I don't know when I will update next time, I have some ideas for the next chapter, but still need time to write it.**_

 _ **Enjoy the chapter and stay tune ;-)**_

Sydney's POV

I was awaken to the soft kisses on my neck and collarbone. I immediately smiled, still with my eyes closed, enjoying the sweet caresses of the only man with whom I've shared a bed and gotten so intimate, in other words...my gorgeous husband Adrian.

If two weeks ago, you'd have told me that I would be kick out of my house, disown by my father and end up married to the notorious Adrian Ivashkov I would have probably laughed at you and called you crazy. And yet, here I was, intertwined in silky sheets in Adrian's king sized bed. What a twist my life had gotten in such a short amount of time. Twenty years of boring existence had passed and nothing happened, but it only needed two weeks for Adrian Ivashkov to put my life upside-down. Any reasonable person would have left immediately after finding about the wedding but I stayed unconsciously. That was it, with Adrian, I didn't think, I just lived. And if two weeks ago I wouldn't have imagined my life with him, now I wasn't able to imagine it without him. Truer words have never been spoken yesterday, when I told him that I didn't know what I would do without him. I was at my worst after the dreadful conversation with my father and he helped me once again without flinching. He made my favorite coffee, forced me to eat, listened to me and even lulled me to sleep. He took care of me as if I was the most precious and delicate thing in this world and I was pretty sure that no matter what I did, I could never thank him enough for that.

I forgot any coherent thought when I felt Adrian's warm and soft lips on mines. I instantly opened my eyes and found myself looking into his shining emerald green eyes.

"Good morning sleeping beauty. If I knew that a kiss on the lips would be your waking, I'd have done it earlier." Adrian said smiling. He was facing me in his white silk boxers, lying casually on his side with one arm under his head and the other on my hip. He really looked like a model in this position.

"Good morning...my prince." I replied playfully and ran my free hand through his muscular chest. Every time I did this, I was amazed of how his skin could be both soft and hard. His body was such a work of art, and I haven't seen the whole of it yet.

Adrian must have liked my touch because in a matter of seconds I found myself on my back with his whole body over mine. In the moving process the long tee shirt that I was wearing had ridden up to my stomach, letting me exposed in my plain black cotton panties. Adrian was pressed against me and the thin fabric of our underwear didn't let much to the imagination. I let out an almost inaudible whimper at the feeling of his body against mine, which was enough for him to part my lips with his tongue and deepen the kiss. Something that started chastely was now becoming passionate. One of his hand was on my hair, keeping my face still while the other was running throughout my thigh and then my hip, going under my shirt to finally rest on my breast. I moaned this time louder. Desperate to touch him I ran my hands throughout his thick messy hair and wrapped my legs around his waist, bringing him closer if it was even possible. He groaned in my mouth before pulling away.

"Sage… we...really need to stop right now...before it goes to far." he eventually managed to say, hoarsely.

"Right." I replied still gasping, and thanking him mentally for controlling the situation.

"I-I'm going to take a shower to-to clear my mind, meanwhile you-you should get dress." he stammered, already standing up.

"Yes. I'll wait for you in the kitchen then, to eat breakfast." I answered, recovering my mind.

"Good idea." he nodded before walking towards the bathroom.

I quickly got dressed, putting on a pair of skinny blue denim jeans and a long sleeve light purple tee-shirt with a V-neck from the pile of clothes Sonya bought me. Even though it wasn't cold in the apartment, the weather in New York was chillier than in Palm Springs, besides I didn't want to wear my old clothes, which were still intact in my suitcases, because it reminded me too much of my house, my family and therefore my father, and yesterday event. I shook my head, as if I could erase this bad memory in a simple movement.

I took a brief passage to the main bathroom, near the corridor at the entry of the apartment. It was smaller than Adrian's bathroom but it was enough for me. Indeed, from what I've seen yesterday, the flat wasn't of course as big as the Palm Springs mansion but it was still spacious and colorful with paintings everywhere, typical Adrian Ivashkov I thought. I brushed my teeth and hair, putting it into a high ponytail, trying to tamed the mess that Adrian had done to it, not I would complain. I put on my usual make-up, a bit of under-eye concealer, pink gloss, mascara and I was ready to go.

Adrian was already in the kitchen when I arrived, I didn't how he was able to finish before me, knowing that he took a shower. I guessed what they said was true, women did take more time than men to get ready. He was dressed in one of his multiple designer jeans that fit him like a glove and wore a green button tee-shirt similar to the one I've slept in. The color emphasizing his gorgeous eyes. He was to my surprise, cooking pancakes. [Who would have thought that Adrian Ivashkov could cook?] and a cup of hot coffee was already placed on the counter, the smell making my stomach growl.

"It looks like someone is hungry." Adrian said joking.

"Yes." I replied a little embarrassed.

"Here, a simple pancake for the lady, with a bowl of fruits. Enjoy!" he said while putting the food in front of me.

"Thank you." I retorted smiling before devouring my meal. I was indeed starving and even ate another pancake, under the eyes of a happy Adrian.

He was finishing his fourth pancake with chocolate and Chantilly cream when I noticed that he was grinning like a child during Christmas morning.

"You look awfully cheerful this morning, is there any particular reason?" I asked curiously.

"Why would I need any particular reason when I woke up lying in bed with my beautiful wife who by the way was only wearing one of my shirts and looked sexy as hell, while we made out wildly." he simply answered, brushing my cheek with his thumb.

"Really?" I was blushing now at the memory. "Is this the only reason of your sudden happiness?" I eventually asked again, dubiously. I knew him enough to see that he was hiding something.

"Fine...there might be something else besides your killer charm." he admitted. His hand was now playing my ponytail.

"I want to show you something." he added enthusiastically.

"Should I be worried?" I demanded arching a brow. It was Adrian Ivashkov after all, you never know with him.

"No, it's nothing to worry about." he reassured me. "Do you trust me?" he added and I nodded.

"Okay then close your eyes." I did as he said. "Good." he kissed my hand before I heard him leaving. A few seconds later I heard footsteps again and Adrian's voice. "Don't cheat, keep your eyes closed, I'm coming." he was getting closer.

"You can open you eyes now." he finally whispered to my ear. I opened my eyes and gasped at the sight of what it was.

"Oh..." I exclaimed speechless.

"I did it earlier this morning, while you were still sleeping peacefully. It's a painting of a lily flower as you told me before that it was your favorite and I painted it in blue shades, trying to reproduce the color of your eyes which have been hunting me since I met you in Las Vegas." he explained carefully.

"A-Adrian, that's wonderful." I stuttered still in awe by the painting in front of me and the beautiful words he'd said. I wasn't an expert in art but I was sure this was something really good, the lines were drawn perfectly, and the colors...it seemed almost real.

"I painted it for you Sydney. Do you like it?" he asked, his eyes shining.

"I love it! Adrian, thank you that's a beautiful gift, I promise to keep it." I answered genuinely and hugged me tightly.

"Nothing is to beautiful for you Sydney." he replied and kissed me, his lips moving slowly, as if he was trying to learn all the little contours of my mouth.

"Sydney, I- l-." Adrian started but he was cut by the doorbell.

"Are you expecting someone?" I asked a bit worried. What if it was an insane paparazzi? Or worst Adrian's father, or mine?

"Only my sister, but she is supposed to come this afternoon, after her classes." he responded a little tense too. "Classes", that reminded me of my own, I had to call Eddie soon.

"I'll go check, stay here."

"Dimitri, Rose, what a lovely surprise!" I heard Adrian exclaimed and immediately let out a sigh, feeling better, it was only our friends.

"You're lucky Sydney and I weren't busy naked." Adrian said. I rolled my eyes, only him could say things like that.

"Please I don't want to have the image of you two naked in my head." Rose snapped with a disgusted face.

"Because you think I would like to have the image of you and Dimitri naked too?" Adrian retorted. "Well actually I wouldn't mind yours..." he added smirking to Rose. "But Dimitri's? I've been there done that and no more please."

"Adrian!" I scowled, finally coming to the living-room near the three of them.

Dimitri was holding an angry Rose who was about to throw herself to Adrian. "Let me go, he deserves at least a slap in the face." I heard her whispered, between her teeth. Thank God Dimitri was here to calm her.

"Sorry sweetheart. You know the only image of a naked woman that I want in my head is yours." Adrian told me, with a malicious smile.

I ignored him and went to greet Rose and Dimitri. To my surprise even Dimitri hugged me and kissed me on the cheek, asking how I was doing. He really was a nice person and I could totally imagine Rose with him. They would be like cat and mouse, black and white, fire and water, two extreme opposite that balanced each other.

Dimitri and Adrian were talking in the living-room while playing some guys stupid video games and I was in the kitchen with Rose. She was eating the rest of Adrian's pancakes with maple syrup. Her ability to eat so much and stay so fit amazed me every time.

"So...you and Dimitri..." I started "are you guys...a thing?" I inquired curiously.

"Hum...I don't really know if we can call what we have a "thing", we've seen each other like three times." Rose answered between two mouthfuls.

"But you like him, don't you?" I asked.

"Yeah! I mean he's nice and I have to admit hot as hell, besides he's one of the only guys who haven't tried anything physical with me so he won points for that. We had dinner together last night it was good, we talked a lot, he told me about his family, how he's met Adrian..." she drawled.

"And… you just talked..." I cut her, wanting to know the juicy details. I knew her to well to notice that she wasn't telling me everything.

"Well mostly..." she continued in a little voice. [Touché! I smiled internally.]

"Rosemarie Hathaway tell me everything." I commanded in my serious voice, the one I used to chastise the kids that I'd babysit in high school.

"Fine! I said HE didn't try any physical attempts, but I've never said that I didn't. I mean look at his body Syd, even I can't resist." she confessed.

"I knew it!" I exclaimed proudly and chuckled. Rose tried to keep from laughing too but failed. I was about to ask her if they had slept together when the boys appeared.

"Well I hope you weren't making fun of us." Adrian said looking back and forth between Rose and me.

"Anyways Dimitri proposed to order some pizzas and watch some crappy TV shows about vampires. Are you girls in?" Adrian announced.

"I'm in. I'll order the pizzas." Rose immediately answered. Of course she was. Wherever food was, so was Rose.

"Sydney?" Adrian questioned, looking at me.

"Fine, but I want a vegetarian pizza and diet coke." I told Rose, who already had her phone in hand.

We spent the rest of the morning and a good part of the afternoon, eating pizzas and watching The Vampire Diaries, chatting and laughing at Adrian, who was always complaining about how stupid the show was and that anyway, vampires didn't exist. Rose and Dimitri left around 5 PM, promising to come visit the next day. Rose still needed to go to the police station and Dimitri went to the Ivashkov's house. Before I came, he was living with Adrian, but to give us some privacy he decided to go back living with the Ivashkovs, where his mother was actually. That was very kind of him and I appreciated his gesture. However there was still a police car patrolling in front of the building, for our security.

It was 6 PM when Adrian's sister arrived. He went to open the door and was immediately welcomed by a shriek and a bear hug from his sister.

"I've missed you too Jailbait, but please stop hugging me so tight, I can barely breathe." I heard Adrian said laughing, while letting go of her sister embrace.

"Stop calling me like that, I'm not 5 anymore." her sister retorted in a high-pitched voice.

"Now where is the famous Sydney?" she asked excited.

"I'm here." I answered shyly, walking towards Adrian and his sister. She looked up at me with a big smile. I finally got a full view of her. She was almost as tall as Adrian and thin, the perfect model type. She had long straight brown hair, lighter than Adrian's but had the same emerald green eyes, emphasized by a perfect black eyeliner line and her long lashes. Her skin was pale except for the little blush on her cheeks, and her pink lips. She was wearing a black pencil skirt and a white lacy blouse, with a tank top under. You could notice that she was young despite her make-up and elegant clothes, but especially gorgeous just like Adrian. Their resemblance was striking.

"Hey Sydney I'm Jillian but everyone calls me Jill. I'm so glad to finally meet you." she said enthusiastically before hugging me, thankfully not to tight.

"Hi-it's nice to meet you too. Adrian told me a lot about you." I managed to answer, pulling away from her gently.

"Really? I hope he only said good things about me." she replied immediately.

"Always." Adrian retorted winking at her.

"You better." she glared at him the way only brothers and sisters did.

"Wow, you are really pretty Sydney, I like your jeans and your hair. Is it your natural color? Oh my God I love it." she drawled while touching my hair, as if we knew each other for a long time. She definitely wasn't timid and kind of remind me of Rose.

"Thanks, you are pretty too. And yes it's my natural color." I replied awkwardly.

"You're so lucky, I wish I had blond hair. Maybe I should dye mine." she snapped. She was a real dynamo.

"Your hair is fine as it is Jill. You don't need to dye them." Adrian chided.

"You're so boring Adrian." she pouted.

"No I'm not. You will thank me later. Remember that time when you were 16 and dyed your hair in black? Then you cried during a week and hide it under a cap because you said that it looked awful on you which wasn't true by the way but nevermind." he explained, talking more like a father than a brother.

"Right." she admitted "I'm 18 and I still need the advices of my big bro." she sighed.

"You've just turned 18 a few weeks ago and until your 21'st birthday I will still consider you as a little girl, besides you will always need my advices." Adrian retorted smiling at her.

"I hope you don't have an overprotective big brother like me Sydney, because sometimes they are such a pain in the ass." Jill said looking at me.

"Eh! Language young lady." Adrian chided her again, elbowing her in the ribs at the same time.

"Oh shut up!" she snapped laughing and Adrian giggled.

I smiled looking at them bickering. I got on well with my sisters especially with Carly, but it wasn't like Adrian and Jill. She was wrong actually and just didn't realize how lucky she was. I would have love to have a big overprotective brother and above all one like Adrian, who would have stand against my father, and gave me the strength to go on.

But destiny chose otherwise. It didn't give me a big brother as I'd hoped, but someone even better. It gave me Adrian, my husband and God knew how grateful I was for that.

 _ **So guys, I leave it here for now, with no big cliffhanger. I've thought about it at first but then said well, it would be too cruel, besides the chapter is already long enough ;-)**_

 _ **What did you think about Jill? I hope she didn't sound like a total brat or something, it wasn't my objective anyway.**_

 _ **-K**_


	17. The complication

_**Hey guys,**_

 _ **in this chapter Eddie is introduced properly, I hope you will like what I did with him.**_

 _ **Enjoy ;-)**_

Sydney's POV

Jill stayed with us for dinner and even help me prepare it. At first sight she looked a little bit eccentric but after spending some hours with her, I'd realized that eventually she was a very nice and funny person. She had more in common with Adrian that she thought. We'd cooked vegetarian lasagnas to which Adrian had cringed at first but then was amazed of how delicious it was when he took the first bite. Adrian had a lot of bad habits that I tried to chase and junk food was one of them so I was glad that he ate and actually liked vegetables for once.

His sister was about to leave when the doorbell rang for the third time today. It was our first day back and we were already busy with various visits. Well this time it was my fault actually, I was the one who texted my friend Eddie and told him to come if he could. I've forgotten that he worked at Starbucks until 8 PM after college, to help him pay his studies. Thankfully, Adrian's apartment wasn't too far away from his workplace and the university campus where he lived during school time. Having moved out to Chicago when he was 8, his parents sold their house in New York, first because they needed the money and secondly because they've never thought that their child would go back there to study. Actually it wasn't Eddie's idea at first, but when his mother died from my breast cancer, a few years ago, he decided to become a doctor, to try to help the people who could still be safe from this unfortunate disease. He chose to go to New York because of the reputation of the college there but also to give himself some distance from his father. It wasn't that he didn't like him, far from it, Eddie's father wasn't like mine at all from what I've heard him say about him it's just that his wife's death was a real hard blow and things hadn't been easy at home since then.

I went to open the door and smiled genuinely at Eddie. He had a dark blue backpack on one of his shoulders and was wearing a cheap pair of jeans and snickers with a black tee shirt under a flannel shirt, which long sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, his favorite style. Despite his cheap clothes, he still looked good with his solidly built body, sandy blond hair and hazel eyes. Most girls in college leered at him but either he didn't notice or pretend not to because I've never seen him flirt with any one or ever go on a date. Rose told me that he had a girlfriend back at home, Angeline if I remember correctly, but they broke up when he left because she didn't want him to go but wouldn't go with him either. I guessed it was a bad break up for him, even though he's never said a word about her to me. It was obvious that Eddie was good-looking but I've never felt attracted to him in a physical way, same went for him to me. Our relationship was more based on a brother and sister one, despite the fact that we weren't like Jill and Adrian, but we've only known each other for two years after all.

"Sydney, I'm glad you are doing fine." Eddie said smiling back at me. I took a step closer and hugged him, feeling his familiar arms around me. When he released me I could notice the dark circles under his eyes, a sign of his tiredness, well that wasn't surprising, between the work at Starbucks and classes, moreover Eddie was a workaholic just like me, so he mustn't have a lot of sleep.

"I've missed you." I simply replied.

"I've missed you too. College wasn't that fun without my best partner in crime." he retorted jokingly and I laughed.

I let Eddie entered and led him to the living-room where Adrian and Jill were. At the sight of Eddie, Adrian immediately reacted and came near us, putting himself between the two of us.

"Wait a second? Is that your friend Eddie?" he asked pointing indeed at Eddie.

"Hum yes why?" I retorted a bit perplexed. What was wrong?

"Well...I was expecting an ugly nerd not a Ken boy." Adrian snapped looking daggers at Eddie.

"Hey, I'm still here dude." Eddie retorted not quite happy about Adrian's welcoming.

"Yes, so am I. And I'm Adrian Ivashkov by the way, Sydney's husband." Adrian said in a defensive tone, emphasizing on the word "husband" and putting his arm around my shoulders in a possessive way.

Okay... I quickly understood the situation. Adrian was actually jealous of Eddie, he must have thought that something was going on between us. I was about to protest when Jill cut me.

"And I'm Jill, Adrian's sister... and wife of nobody for your information." She exclaimed looking at Eddie with a grin while fluttering her eyelashes. Well she wasn't indifferent to Eddie's charm, little she knew that he was such a timid guy.

"Hi-nice to meet you." Eddie politely replied after letting go of Adrian's gaze and looked at Jill nodding. Was I dreaming or was he blushing? That was weird. Everything was strange about this situation and I could notice that Adrian was still seeing red. What was wrong with men and their ego? That was probably due to their high level of testosterone. Anyways, I had to do something to prevent any disaster.

"Hum...Jill why don't you lead Eddie to the kitchen? I'm sure he hasn't eaten yet and there are still some leftovers." I abruptly said looking at Jill with insistence, hoping she would understand my plan.

"Oh...yes...okay no problem." she eventually stammered loudly, with comprehension. I thanked her internally.

"Sydney?" Eddie asked hesitantly, looking back between Jill and me.

"It's fine I'm coming too, just give us a few minutes." I replied with a small smile, I didn't want to worry him, he was already nice enough in the first place to accept to show up at this hour of the night.

"Come on, you'll tell me what you think about my lasagnas." Jill exclaimed cheerfully, taking Eddie by the arm. He was still a bit reluctant at first but didn't put her arm away. That was progress I thought to myself. I've never seen Eddie let other girls touch him except Rose or me.

Once they've left I gently took Adrian's hands in mine and forced him to look into my eyes, trying to calm him down.

"Adrian..." I started gently "Eddie and I are very good friends that's all. There's nothing going on between us and there's never been anything. You don't have to worry about that and how much it could be cute sometimes, you don't need to be jealous." I put a light kiss on each of his hands.

"You are the one I married remember? Well at least you remember not me." I blurted out shamefully.

"I'm not jealous." he retorted.

"Really?" I rolled my eyes.

"Fine, I may be a little bit jealous that my wife is friend with a good-looking guy." he admitted.

"Did you just admit that Eddie was handsome? I thought you were more into women than men Mister Ivashkov." I teased him.

"I am one hundred per cent into women, especially blond ones with gorgeous blue-ocean eyes." He stated freeing his hands to put them around my waist and bringing me closer to him. "But I can recognize an attractive man when I see one, even though there is no man alive who's prettier than me." he finished smugly.

"Of course not, you are the more charming of them all." I played along, drawing some circles with my fingers over the shirt on his chest. He smirked before attacking my mouth with his hot and soft lips. Once we've recovered our breath he finally said.

"I'm sorry about earlier, you're right I shouldn't have reacted like I did. You're one of the rarest people that I trust Sydney, never forget that." He was looking at me intensely, his fingers brushing my cheek. I simply nodded and kiss his hand.

"Now let's go see what these two are doing in the kitchen, I don't trust this Eddie around my sister." he went back to protective mode.

"Adrian." I warned "Eddie is a good guy and a gentleman, he won't try anything with your sister I'm sure. He's a good friend of Rose remember?" I tried to reassure him.

"Is the fact that he's friend with Rose suppose to reassure me? In case you haven't noticed Rose isn't very fond of me." He retorted and I hold back a laugh.

"You two just started off on the wrong foot." I replied.

"She threatened my man's parts Sydney." he snapped horrified. This time I couldn't help myself and laughed. I was quickly followed by Adrian.

When we joined Jill and Eddie in the kitchen, he looked at me with relief and immediately stood up to come next to me. Indeed Jill was seated near him and when I said near me it wasn't to say almost tailgate to him, sure they weren't touching but clearly the personal space wasn't respected. Jill was looking eagerly at him, with a big smile plastered on her face meanwhile he was obviously uncomfortable.

"Jailbait I think it's time for you to go home. It's getting late, let me call you a cab." Adrian said, breaking this awkward situation.

"Fine..." Jill acknowledged reluctantly.

"Good bye Sydney, it was nice to meet you." She hugged me tightly before letting go and keeping her attention back to Eddie "And you too Eddie." She said kissing him the cheek and then followed Adrian outside. Eddie was as red as a beetroot, he looked adorable really.

"Well...that was awkward." Eddie eventually managed to say.

"Sorry about that, I hope she didn't bother you too much. She is a nice person actually, just a little bit eccentric at first sight and I think she has the hots for you." I stated honestly.

"Yeah, I've noticed that." He cleared his throat and I smiled. Of course he did, I bet that even a blind person could have seen it.

"So, how are you doing?" I asked genuinely.

"Same old. School, work, calling my father to know how he's doing, seeing Rose at weekends… nothing new. It's not like I've married a rich famous guy in Vegas or something." he joked.

"Right! I would actually be a bit worried if you had married a guy. A serious conversation would have been needed." I joked back and he chuckled.

"Do you think you're coming back to college?" He demanded, changing the tone of the conversation.

"Frankly I haven't thought about it yet, after what happened with my father..."

"Rose told me, I'm sorry about that Sydney, really, what he did wasn't acceptable." he touched my back gently.

"I knew it would happen sooner or later." I confessed, trying not to cry once again.

"I'll take your notes and try to catch up this semester, at least take the final exams and end the year, then I will see what I do." I continued sniffling.

"Good idea. I've brought you the documents and the lessons are on a memory stick. If there's something you don't understand you can ask me okay." he hugged me and I thanked him.

"Am I interrupting something?" Adrian abruptly said, making us both jump with surprise.

"I was actually leaving." Eddie replied, letting go of my arms.

"You can stay longer if you want, I've just seen my sister out because she's still a little bit young. And by the way I'm sorry about earlier man, I looked like a total caveman." Adrian admitted sheepishly.

"Nah. It's forgotten." Eddie tapped Adrian's shoulder. "I see that you care about Sydney, that's all. I care about her too so that you know and I hope you won't disappoint her." he added warningly.

"Why do all Sydney's friend need to threaten me?" Adrian exclaimed desperately.

"It's because she has awesome good friends." Eddie replied giggling.

"Now guys, it's not that I don't like you, but I have to go, I'm getting up early tomorrow." He took his bag and put it on his shoulders. "Thanks for dinner Syd the lasagnas were delicious by the way." He kissed my cheek and nodded to Adrian.

I'd just finished to close the door behind Eddie, when Adrian came behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. He left a trail of sweet kisses along my neck, wakening the fire in my body at the same time.

"Finally alone." He whispered to my ear and gently nibbled my earlobe. I moaned unconsciously and pushed my hips to his, feeling him.

"How about you join me to bed?" He proposed hoarsely, one of his hands had move to my breast.

"Just give me a few minutes." I replied panting. I needed to take a shower and brush my teeth first.

"Don't be too long." And he left towards the bedroom.

When I came out of the bathroom, freshly clean and dressed with only one of Adrian's tee-shirt (they had became my new pajamas) and silk purple panties, he was unfortunately already asleep. His chest rising and falling at each breath he took and his beautiful eyes closed, with his long lashes touching the soft skin under his eyes. He looked younger and peaceful, almost like an angel. I laid next to him and kissed his cheek before falling asleep too, my head resting on his shoulders.

The next day started exactly like the previous, a wakening with a hot make out, a healthy breakfast and lazy morning and lunch. Everything seemed quite perfect until mid-afternoon, when I heard the bell. We weren't expecting anyone this time, but Adrian was in the restroom so I went to open the door. I found myself facing a tall young woman with a perfect hourglass figure emphasized by a black lacy sheath and a pair of black stiletto heels. She was also wearing a black trench coat which was open to show off her generous cleavage from the exact low cut line of her dress. She had long straight black hair and blue-gray eyes underlined by long lashes and black kôhl, fine features and plump red lips. She was holding what I guessed was a designer purse between one of her well manicured hand with red nails matching her lipstick. To say that she was beautiful was an understatement. Rose was beautiful, Jill was beautiful but this woman was splendid, and she definitely knew it. Indeed, she looked down on me before asking.

"Is Adrian here?" I was neither a mean or rude person but honestly, she had the same voice as stupid floozies in movies.

"Who's asking?" I eventually answered, not letting myself intimidate by her coldness.

"I'm Avery Lazur. Adrian's fiancée." she replied proudly.

Holy fucking hell! I was going to be sick.

 _ **What the…? I know guys, you are probably hating me right now, but did you really think that everything was going to be forever cozy and fluffy?**_

 _ **I'll try to update as soon as possible but once again with school you know how it is...**_

 _ **Anyways stay tune ;-)**_

 _ **-K**_


	18. The twist

_**Hey guys,**_

 _ **Sorry for the long wait after such a cliffhanger. School is crazy, this year is gonna kill me guys I swear…**_

 _ **Anyways this chapter is not as funny and cute as the others and there is some strong language, just warning ;-)**_

Adrian's POV

"ADRIAN!" I heard Sydney scream when I went out of the restroom. Immediately I ran towards the source of the sound, not without having a sense of "déjà vu", recalling that morning in Las Vegas when she discovered the ring on her finger and therefore that were in fact married.

When I came to the living-room, I had to blink several times and even pinch myself to believe what or more precisely who I was seeing. Avery Lazar, aka my ex fiancée was standing in all her splendor in front of Sydney, my wife. In another time, this situation could have been comical, your wife and ex fiancée finding themselves in the same room, but it this case, it was not.

I met Avery two years ago, when she came from Miami to New York with her family that included a complete asshole father just like mine, a window dressing mother and a junkie brother. She was the daughter of my father's new business partner and hot as hell, so the old me obviously took the opportunity to become friend with her. At first our relationship consisted basically in a few hook ups here and there, until last year. One day, her father left work earlier than expected and came upon us in a very compromising position, needless to say that he wasn't very delighted. The next day, he visited me alone and gave me an ultimatum: either I got engaged with Avery (the guy really thought that her daughter was holier than thou, little did he knew that I wasn't her first) or he would break any partnership he had with my father. Even though I wasn't involved into my father's business I wasn't stupid to understand that the lost of Avery's father alliance would jeopardize the future of the company. That's why in a last attempt to save my relationship with my father I accepted to propose to Avery who said yes right away. We then started dating "properly", going to the restaurant or to the movies, always being careful with the paparazzi, I bought her the fancy gifts that she liked. She enjoyed drinking and partying as much as I did and knew how to please me, so it did not seem that bad in the beginning therefore we stayed together for half a year up to two months ago, when I discovered that it was all a trickery. Indeed, after accidentally hearing one of her phone calls, I realized she'd been with me only for my money and to have fun. Even though she was rich by her father's side, she knew that like every wealthy daughter she had to find a patsy husband to support her financially after she left home. She was a selfish greedy bitch, telling me all the little things I wanted to hear just to keep me. And the icing on the cake, it has been found later on that her father had been misappropriating a considerable sum of money from my father's company. Basically, that whole time they have been playing on us just to achieve their goal. I could say that she broke my heart, if what we had was love in the first place but it certainly was not. After those revelations I obviously broke up with her and told her to fuck off, meanwhile my father sued her father's ass.

"What the fuck are you doing here Avery? I thought I was clear the last time." I finally said coldly to her. How dare she came to me after all the shit her father and her has done. I went towards a very pale looking Sydney. She had her mouth opened as if she was about to speak but no sound would come.

"Adrian, baby, that's not a way to talk to your fiancée!" Avery exclaimed in her unctuous voice, looking at me with a big smile that I bet was as fake as her boobs. She kept telling me they were true but I perfectly knew they weren't. If my previous experiences with women had taught me something, it was definitely the distinction between true and false tits and Avery's were clearly unnatural.

"Ex-fiancée." I snapped back emphasizing on the word "ex". "Or did you forget that I broke the engagement two months ago when my father and I realized that we have been taken for a ride?" I continued angrily. Sydney gazed wide eyed at me, puzzled, clearly not comprehending what the hell was going on. I could not blame her.

"That was a misunderstanding Adrian, I tried to tell my father that what he was doing was wrong but he did not listen to me. You know my feelings for you have always been true, I love you Adrian, and if it can reassure you, I lost contact with my father after our break up." Avery replied in that same unctuous voice. She was an expert at manipulation and could have fooled me if I did not know her better. She was coming towards me, stretching her hands but I cringed. No way I was going to let her touch me.

"Please spare me your fake feelings. You never loved me and so did I. Our relationship was only based on lies. And in case you have not noticed, I'm married now, so just get the hell of out my house before I call the cops!" I spat boiling over. I gently and possessively took Sydney's hand, which by the way was frozen

"So, now you are threatening me! Nice Adrian really. Oh and I was already aware of your sudden marriage in Las Vegas with blondie. I think all the world knows about it, so much so for discretion!" Avery retorted with disdain, her fake attempts to be gentle were far gone. Here was the real Avery.

"I acknowledge, that was a brilliant idea, taking advantage of him while he was drunk to get married. Well done. And then I'm the manipulative one." Avery carried on with her speech, this time looking at Sydney who was clearly uncomfortable. I squeezed her hand harder and spoke to defend my wife.

"Don't you dare compare Sydney to you. She is nothing like you, and you will never be half the woman she is. And for your information she did not know who I was before meeting me and I was the one who agreed to marry her, unlike you, I was not forced!" I screamed at Avery, seeing red.

"You seriously believed that bullshit? Oh no let me guess you fell for that little innocent sweet face didn't you?" she glared at Sydney. "What? You thought that by marrying that fake prude girl you would erase all your previous mistakes and get rid of your inner demons? You thought you could change? Come on Adrian, just be realistic, you hardly know her. I've known you for a year, I know exactly what you like, what you want, what you need. I am the one for you baby, not her, she isn't from our world and she will never be." Avery had lost all her previous calmness and was yelling now.

She was starting to get on my nerves and I was about to protest but she cut me before I had the chance to, sustaining her momentum.

"And I bet you can't even please him. Am I wrong?" she had come closer to Sydney and was still frowning at her, speaking with contempt this time instead of yelling. "Adrian is not a man for you sweetie, he likes it rough you know, against a wall, from be-."

"AVERY SHUT UP!" I cut her obscene speech, shouting fiercely and letting go of Sydney's hand. She had put her other hand on her mouth and looked sick. God I was going to kill Avery. Beside myself, I furiously pushed Avery against the door and she gasped, taken aback.

"Ad-Ad-Adrian." Sydney eventually stammered lowly, pronouncing her first words since Avery's arrival. She looked at me terrified.

"You won't hit me Adrian, not in front of her." Avery eventually said hoarsely, trying to recover her breath.

"I can ask her to leave." I retorted harshly pinning her arms roughly against the door. I could spot fear in her eyes.

"You-you- can't hit me." she mumbled, not so confident all of sudden.

"Why not?" I replied gritting my teeth and squeezing harder into her forearms.

"Because...I'm pregnant with your child." she blurted out.

"What?" I interjected dumbfounded, immediately letting go of the hold I had on her. I must had misheard what she said, that was the only explanation.

"I am pregnant with you child." She repeated this time slower and louder. Okay that was probably just a sick joke. Or perhaps a nightmare, yes, I might have fallen asleep without realizing it. I closed my eyes and opened them. Nope my crazy ex fiancée who pretended to be pregnant with my baby was still here. And then I burst out of laughter, yeah just like that.

"You're kidding right? I mean that's impossible, you cannot be pregnant." I managed to say after my insane crack up.

"Why would it be impossible? We fucked like rabbits and most of the time we were both drunk, we must have forgotten protection more than once." she replied regaining her confidence.

"How do I know you're not lying, after all I have no proof of your sudden pregnancy." I snapped back.

"I have the 3 month sonogram in my purse, I can show it to you if you don't believe me." she said back and went for her purse which was lying on the floor. I took advantage of this moment to look at Sydney but I only caught a glimpse of blond hair that disappeared towards the bedroom. Damn it!

"Here, the doctor said the baby was fine but that it was too soon to know its sex." Avery added before putting the ultrasound in my hand. Holy shit, she really was pregnant. Oh Heaven helps me.

"I might not be the father, for all I know you could have been screwing around with someone else, while we were still together." There again, she was a manipulative crazy bitch.

"You know I was always faithful to you Adrian." she replied offended.

"I don't trust you Avery, and I won't recognize this child without a paternity test." I was no fool, I was conned once by her and it was enough.

"Well paternity tests are dangerous during the pregnancy and to perform a legal one you are going to need a judicial procedure. Either you wait for the birth of the child or you start legal proceedings knowing that you can lose both the case and your career, I mean just think about it? The playboy artist that was fun for tabloids and fans, but the one who knocked up her fiancée and got married to another girl in Las Vegas a few months after...hum not so cool. And even though our relationship was hidden during all this time, there's nothing stopping me from telling the truth and who do you think they will believe? My father may have stolen money from yours but you've got no proof of my implication, it there was one of course. So it will be your word against mine." she said with a devilish smile.

"It's up to you Adrian. You've got my number, if you need to contact me. I hope to see you soon." she finished, blowing me a kiss before finally leaving. To say that I was fucked was a hell of an understatement.

As soon as she was gone, I searched for Sydney and found her in our bedroom, putting clothing furiously into her suitcase.

"Sydney..." I started carefully and went towards her. I tried to touch her but she flinched. "Please don't touch me Adrian." She looked up at me and I saw that she was crying. Seeing her like that was heartbreaking, especially when I knew that I was the one inflicting her this pain. I couldn't help but remember that awful morning in Las Vegas when she found out about the wedding and left me.

"Honey...what are you doing?" I demanded gently. ["As if you didn't know douchebag she is packing to dump your stupid ass. What did you think she would do after learning that you knocked up your ex fiancée, who by the way you've never talked about, thinking that it wasn't important of course."An evil voice said in my head.]

"I'm sorry...I...I can't do this...I think it's better if we take some distance for a while, clearly you have your own problems to take care of and...and right now I cannot look at you without thinking about you and her...together." She stuttered between sobs and winced at the last part. Oh God she was imagining Avery and me having sex.

"You-you can't leave like that, where are you going? Please Sydney, we we are going to find a solution that's our thing right? Finding solutions?" I blurted out desperately, like a mad man. No no no she couldn't leave me. What was I going to become without her?

"All the things I said were true, all the moments we shared were authentic, you are the one I want Sydney not her, you need to believe me. You are the one I lo-"

"Please don't say it Adrian." She cut me before I could say that she was the one I was in love with. I guess what they say is true, you only realize you love a person when you lose her.

"I'm so sorry Sydney." I eventually said after an awkward silence, clearing my throat and running my hands through my hair. Honestly I looked pathetic.

"Not as much as I am." She murmured sadly. And that's how I watched her pack her things and went away. I stood there petrified without moving or even saying anything. It felt like hours but it was probably only a few minutes because Sydney was efficient in everything she did.

When I became aware that she was in fact truly gone, I did something I've never done since my aunt's death, I cried. I cried like a baby, until there were no more tears left in my system. And then, because old habits died hard, I smoke and drank till I lost consciousness.

 _ **Well...that was unexpected, wasn't it?**_

 _ **Tell me what you thought about this chapter guys, reviews are always welcomed.**_

 _ **As always, stay tuned ;-)**_

 _ **-K**_


	19. The hope

_**Hey guys,**_

 _ **I know it's been like forever since I updated and I am truly sorry.**_

 _ **So, here is a LONG chapter to make it up to you.**_

 _ **As always I hope you will enjoy it ;-)**_

Sydney's POV

Three months have passed since I left Adrian after the "baby bomb" dropped by his ex-fiancée. Wow I still couldn't believe the fact that he was engaged only two months before marrying me and did not think about telling. Sure we stayed together for three weeks and the conversation about the exes never came to mind. Besides, I wasn't really keen on knowing about Adrian's numerous conquests and for what it's worth, I guess he wasn't expecting his crazy ex-fiancée to be pregnant. I mean, what were the odds right? Unfortunately it did happen since my whole life had been turn upside down a few months ago by a stranger who's as gorgeous as he's dangerous. Honestly Adrian Ivashkov should come with instructions, something like "be careful: this rich, sexy, arrogant creature will tenderly seduce you and win your heart only to better break it after." I guess, I should have seen it coming, in any case it was too good to be true and those things only happen in movies or fluffy novels. Too bad I had blindly and stupidly fallen in love in the process.

Three long and miserable months have passed in which I tried to move on and forget about Adrian. Sometimes, I would be woken up by a memory of the two weeks we spent together in Palm Springs. And then, I thought that all of this was just a good dream but unlucky it was all too real. Indeed, the laughs, the touches, the kisses, the games...they were as real as the tears and the big hole that has been in my chest since I we broke apart. I had tried to erase the memory of this dreadful afternoon from my brain but it was as if my mind did not want me to, keeping it stuck in order to torture me even more.

After leaving Adrian's apartment I took a cab and went straight to Rose's, without any warning because I was too shock to talk. It was the only place I could think about going. Thankfully she was home. When she saw me at her doorstep she hushed me inside wordlessly and hugged me tightly while I cried uncontrollably. Eventually the tears stopped and I managed to talk to explain the situation. After many threats and curses cast on Adrian she helped me settled in her small flat.

The first month was extremely painful. I barely slept and ate. Adrian did not stop calling and texting me, but I declined each phone call and erased each text without reading them. I just couldn't answer him. Hearing his voice was unbearable. It would only make me think about him and therefore about Avery and then my twisted mind would imagine the two of them together, making me sick. When I think that I was about to give him my virginity...thank God I did not or it would have been one more regretted mistake.

Tired of seeing my daily pathetic state, Rose took charge of me and forced me to take back control over my life. That's why we went shopping, to the hairdresser, the beauty salon and even to the spa. Every Friday night, we would have a hen party with Lissa and my older sister Carly, which basically consisted on watching silly comedies and laughing at it while eating pizza and ice-cream. Adrian was never mentioned in our conversations but I could notice the pity in the girl's eyes and Lissa never talked about her boyfriend Christian, the guy she met at Las Vegas, to avoid upsetting me. Eddie visited as much as he can, sometimes staying so late that he crashed on the couch instead of going back to his dorm. Thanks to a little white lie about my "sudden absence" and Eddie's help, I was able to caught up and attend classes and fortunately passed all my exams to validate my semester. I'd forgotten how much of a workaholic I was and how good it felt to bury myself in books.

Time eased the pain and with college and the support of my friends I managed to gain confidence both physically and mentally, and put myself back on the right track. I would always be grateful for what they have done. That's why when Rose told me that she would stop seeing Dimitri because he was friend with that "big rotten son of an asshole" (when it came to naming Adrian, she was very creative and always found new "lovely nicknames") I refused. It was useless to ruin her relationship because of me. Dimitri was not responsible for what happened between Adrian and me and after all he did not have a potential pregnant ex-fiancée.

Also, I knew that she liked him and so did he. Every time they were together he couldn't take his eyes off her, smiling at everything she said even when she was just complaining about something. A week after Adrian and I broke up, or should I say after I break up with him, Dimitri tried to talk to me about him, but Rose clearly made him understand that if he wanted to keep seeing her, he better not bring "Adrian's topic". To my utter surprise, he accepted her condition and even listened to her insulting her best friend for a few minutes before kissing him as if nothing had happened. I appreciated him even more.

Dimitri is such a caring and sweet man and he is good for Rose, because he completes her, just like Adrian completed me.

Oh God and here I am, again, thinking about him. I acknowledge that every time I see Dimitri my heart twinges a little bit because he reminds me of Adrian. So when I can, I make up an excuse to avoid him. I know that I am being rude because honestly I have nothing against him, but it is just to hard for me to stay in the same room as he is.

Unfortunately, tonight I could not escape escape his visit and was forced to see him because Rose wasn't ready yet when he knocked at the door to take her to dinner. He was surprised to find me on the other side of the door but quickly recovered and hugged me as a greeting. I plastered a smile on my face and let him in. He sat on the couch, with his hands on his thighs. A few minutes passed before one of us spoke and I couldn't take this awkward silence any longer.

"She had a problem with her hairdryer but she shouldn't be long." I said the first stupid thing that came to my mind.

"Okay." He plainly replied not looking at me.

"Look Sydney-" He started but was interrupted by Rose's exclamation "Hey comrade!" It was the nickname she gave him because she thought he looked like a cowboy. She threw herself into his arms and he immediately grinned.

"Hello Roza." He replied, his accent emphasizing the "r" before kissing her and I turned my head to give them some privacy.

"I'm thirsty would you mind making me a coffee please?" He asked abruptly after their make-out session. Hum…Dimitri wanting a coffee at 7 PM? Weird…

"Oh okay, I'm on my way." Rose retorted a bit surprised too.

"Thanks beautiful." He let go of her and suddenly turned too me.

"Sydney. We don't have much time before Rose comes back so I won't be long just please listen to me. I know this is a difficult situation and you can imagine how delicate it is for me. I mean on the one hand there's my best friend who's like a brother to me and on the other hand there's my girlfriend's best friend. I know you don't want to talk about him but he asked me to give you this." He took a fair blue envelope with my name written on it out of his jacket. "I don't know what it is I swear and you can do whatever you want with it but at least take it, that's the only thing I will ask. And just so you know, I love you both and I don't want to take any side but he's been miserable as hell since you left. I hope you will fix your problems, because frankly you both look better when you are together." He finished with a sad smile just before Rose came back with his coffee.

"What are you two plotting?" she inquired intrigued of our closeness.

"I was just asking Sydney if she had some humiliating stories to tell me about you but she refused to give in." Dimitri retorted casually and I quickly hide the envelope behind my sweatshirt. Obviously our little conversation was meant to be secret.

Dimitri drank his coffee in one go because apparently he had booked a table in one of Rose's favorite restaurant which was very chic so they could not be late. Before they left, I hugged Dimitri once again and whispered an almost inaudible thank you.

I went to my bedroom and opened the envelope. I was astonished to find a letter in it. I never thought that Adrian was the writing type. And because I am a masochist, I laid on the bed and read it.

 _My sweet Sydney,_

 _I know you don't want to talk to me since you declined all my phone calls but I thought that you would at least listen to me, hence the letter. Damn, I think it's the first time I've written a letter to a girl, but after all you are not any girl, you are MY girl and I would do whatever it takes for you even if it means writing a letter._

 _I did not have the chance to explain myself that ungodly day Avery showed up and I hope that you will read this objectively._

 _So here's the whole story: I met Avery two years ago, when she came from Miami to New York with her family. She was the daughter of my father's new business partner and we started hooking up. One day, her father left work earlier than expected and came upon us discovering our little affair. The next day, he gave me an ultimatum: either I got engaged with Avery or he would break any partnership he had with my father. Even though I wasn't involved into my father's business I wasn't stupid to understand that the lost of Avery's father alliance would jeopardize the future of the company. That's why in a last attempt to save my relationship with my father I accepted to propose to Avery who said yes right away. We stayed together for half a year until I discovered that it was all a trickery. In fact, she'd been with me only for my money and to have fun meanwhile her father had been misappropriating a considerable sum of money from my father's company._

 _I broke up with her and my father sued her father's ass. This was two months before I met you. I guess I should have told you that I was engaged but at the time I thought it was not the most important thing to say to you and I never thought that would hear about Avery anymore._

 _Sadly, I have history that I wish I could erase or at least forget but my past comes back biting me in the ass. So that is true Avery is indeed pregnant and she is passed her sixth months now. It kills me to say this but there might be a chance that I am the father of the baby but I do not believe it, hell I do not want to believe it. She could have cheated on me while we were still together since our relationship was based on lies. I did not think about it at the time because I blindly trusted her but now taking a step back I realize that it could have been possible. Or perhaps I just hope that she cheated on me. Would this make me a horrible person? Putting me at the same level as Avery?_

 _She was wrong you know, when she said that I was only with you because I thought you could change me. You do not change who you are from overnight and some people would even say that you can't never change who you really are, that your true nature will always come back. I do not know if this is true are not but what I know is that you are one of the rarest person who seems to see good in me, who seems to believe that I am capable of great things and that I can be a better person not for the others but for myself. Sydney, you opened my eyes, my mind, my heart._

 _The time we spent together was short but it was worth it because the moments we shared were genuine and authentic. I did things with you that I've never done with anyone else and that I couldn't imagine myself doing with anyone else actually. Often there were simple things as eating dinner in front of the TV or cuddling in bed, looking at you while you were reading intensely a book but they felt so fine to me. I remember every perfect details about you, from the little mole on your right breast to the sound of your voice and your contagious smile. My God Sage you are so splendid when you smile! You have this dimple on your right cheek and your eyes sparkle, whereas when you frown you got this little wrinkle on your forehead making you more adorable that threatening. I wish you could see yourself throughout my eyes to notice how gorgeous you are._

 _I do not have the words to describe how much I miss you or how much of an agonizing torture these three months have been. I even went to see my father and begged for his help, that is to say how desperate I am. Just so you know I will not let Avery's threats affect us and I have not given up on you._

 _At last, would you do me a little favor and accept to see me? Even a few minutes would be heavenly. I am not asking for anything more. I just need to see you!_

 _I will understand if you refuse too, but I just hope you will not, Miss Sydney Katherine Sage Ivashkov._

 _From your hot broody husband that loves you from the bottom of his heart, Adrian._

I was glad that I was alone because I could not control the sobs and tears of his heartbreaking letter. He misses me, he wants to see me, he loves me. Three things that I can oh too well relate to. My mind told me that it was a bad idea to accept his invitation but my heart disagreed. And because Love defeats Reason, I grabbed my cellphone and texted him one word: "Okay".

He answered in a matter of seconds: "When and where?"

We agreed on Thursday evening, after my classes at a Starbucks but not the one in my campus. I did not want Eddie to see us as I did not want Rose to know. Alas the last one failed when I bumped into her on my way outside of the apartment.

"Hey, where are you going?" she asked examining me.

"Hum...I..." I was a terrible liar when it came to Rose so I had to tell the truth.

"I'm going to see Adrian." I mumbled, hoping she would not understand what I'd said.

"Excuse me? Did you say that you were going to see that fucking bastard?" she snapped back.

"I...Yes." I blurted out.

"Did you forget what he did to you. Or do I have to remind you the part where he knocked up his crazy bitch of an ex-fiancée?" She was getting angry now great! "God I knew I should have killed him that night you came to me. Or at least give him a good fucking kick in the balls, or even better chop his man's parts!" She was yelling now and I was afraid the neighborhood would hear her and call the police.

"Rose, please, quiet down! We are just going to talk okay, nothing else." I don't know who I was trying to convince anymore, me or her.

"Fine. But I'm going with you." she retorted after calming down.

"What? No. I want to be alone please. If anything goes wrong I promise to call you okay?" I pleaded.

"Okay." she replied reluctantly and I left before she changed her mind.

When I arrived Adrian was already there, sitting in a corner daydreaming. He did not seem to have change a lot in those three months, except that his hair was now longer making some locks falling in front of his splendid emerald eyes. He was wearing a gray sweatshirt that fitted his large shoulders and torso perfectly and a dark pair of jeans with dark boots. God he was gorgeous. Seeing him like that I could almost forget Avery, I said almost because the masochist part of my brain was still here to remind me.

"Hi." I said shyly once I've joined him. He blinked a few times as if trying to check out that I was real before answering me.

"Sydney." Oh… how much I've missed his voice… I knew it was a bad idea coming here. He stood up not without checking me out while I took off my coat. I had put on a pair of dark blue skinny jeans with high brown boots and a purple V-neck sweat from my multiple shopping with Rose. He waited, not sure of what to do or say. So, to avoid any awkward situation I dropped a quick light kiss on his cheek, ignoring the tickle in my skin before sitting down. He took back his seat in front of me, handing me a cup of coffee and a blueberry muffin.

"A light vanilla latte just as you like and an organic muffin"

I thanked him not without having a little twinge because he just remembered how I liked my coffee. I then took a good look at him and that's when I saw the dark rings under his eyes (unlike me he did not apply make-up to hide them) and his hollow cheeks. " _He's been miserable as hell since you left_." Dimitri had said and he was right. He must have lost a few pounds.

"You've cut your hair?" Adrian noticed, bringing me back to reality.

"Oh yes." I'd almost forgotten that Rose had dragged me to the hairdresser and that I ended up with a bob.

"It suits you." He replied smiling and oh boy that smile was dangerous. I had to do something

"So how have you been doing?" I demanded clearing me throat. (Very smooth Sydney!)

"Let's just say I had better days." he answered chuckling. "What about you?"

"I'm fine. I passed all my exams and I'm starting my new semester." Not a total lie.

"Good. I'm proud of you Sydney." he said genuinely.

"Still in medicine right?"

"Right."

"Did you spend good Christmas holidays?"

"Yeah. I went to Vermont with Rose, her father and her cousin. And you?"

"With Jill we went skying to Aspen in Colorado. Have you ever skied?"

"No, never actually."

And here we were making small talk like complete strangers who were clearly uncomfortable.

"Sydney..." Adrian finally started. "I am not going to beat around the bush. Firstly I am delighted that you accepted to see me because I know how hard it can be for you. Secondly, as I said in my letter, the situation with Avery is a little bit complicated right now. I am trying to find a solution with my father actually, who would have thought? Desperate times call for desperate measures right." he snickered.

"But this is not easy. She won't accept to do a paternity test before the birth of the baby. She is trying to take as much as she can, forcing me to buy baby's stuffs and all. My father's lawyers are working on the case and we obtained a trial for next month. God these things take so much time it's awful." He went on but I stopped him when a dreadful thought occurred to me.

"Adrian. What if the baby is yours?" I asked in a small voice.

"I..." he was taken aback "I… I don't know. I guess we will find a solution too. That's what we do right? I mean if the baby is mine, sure I will take care of him even if I have to tear him from Avery's hands because there's no way on Earth I would let her raise my child." he stated.

"Adrian...you're 23 and a baby is such a big responsibility and such work. You cannot raise a child on your own. And no matter how bad Avery is, you cannot deprive a child from his mother." I replied gently.

"You're right, I am so not prepared to be a father! The idea of having children always disgusted me, especially knowing the relationship I have with my father. How could I become a parent? What if I become like him?" he exclaimed alarmed.

"Adrian..." I took his cold hands into mine trying to calm him down. God why did I ask this stupid question? Oh yeah because my scientific brain loves to think about all the possibilities and torture me at the same time.

"Listen to me Adrian." I looked into his watering eyes. Great now I was the one who was going to start crying. I took a deep breath and said

"You can be Avery's baby father or not as you said on the letter, I do not want to hurt you more that you already are but still, you have to think about this eventuality. Obviously you have a lot going on right now and the process is long, until the trial and the birth of the baby there's nothing I can really do. We still need some time apart to figure things out Adrian. I do not regret coming here today and I do not know what you are expecting from this but I will not come back to you Adrian, at least not now, I am sorry." My voice was trembling at the end. (Stay strong Sydney!)

"I understand." he replied with a beaten look after a few seconds.

"Sydney?" he continued interrogatively.

"Yes."

"Do you hate me?" he demanded gently.

"What? God no Adrian, I think I could never hate you, even if I wanted too." I responded truthfully.

"Do you...do you think we could still be friends?" he asked hesitantly, his green eyes looking at me so intensely that it was disturbing.

"Sure." I simply answered, not trusting myself to say more.

"Thank you." He squeezed my hands which were still in his. We stayed like that for a little moment before finishing our coffees silently.

We were now outside and my cab has arrived, it was time to say goodbye.

"Sydney just promise me to take care of yourself okay?" he said while delicately brushing my cheek with his fingers. His skin was scorching, or maybe it was that I was cold because of the weather. It was February and New York wasn't famous for being a warm city.

"I promise. Take care of yourself too Adrian." I did not say anything but I could notice the faint smell of cigarettes mixed with his expensive cologne. He must have started to smoke again after I left.

He finally took me into his arms and I would lie if I said that it did not feel good. The taxi driver was starting to get impatient so he unwillingly let go of me after whispering "Just remember that no matter what, I love you and I always will." And he kissed my forehead.

I entered into the cab with a heavy heart, full of mixed feelings and among them, there was hope.

 _ **Well… things look promising… don't they?**_

 _ **What did you think? Is Adrian the baby's father?**_

 _ **-K**_


	20. The outcome

_**Hey everyone,**_

 _ **Before all, I wanted to thank the persons who still continued to read this story despite my super late updates. I know I suck at timing and I am truly sorry for that, but school has been so crazy these past weeks!**_

 _ **Anyway, enough blabla, here is what you've been waiting for.**_

 _ **Consider this as your early Christmas present, by the way I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a good holiday. I hope you were not too naughty this year ;-)**_

Sydney's POV

For the past month and since that day at Starbucks, Adrian and I have been keeping in touch throughout messages and phone calls but never met again. Let's say we were working on baby steps, yeah that was a way of saying it. Today was the day of the trial and Adrian insisted on seeing me to tell me the verdict in person. We agreed on a walk in central park at 3 PM. Because it was still winter, I put on a pair of black flat boots and skinny black jeans with a white sweater, scarf and long coat. I applied a little bit of pink gloss and mascara and my usual vanilla lotion. I would lie if I said that I did not make myself "pretty" for him. Despite the pain he put me through, I could neither forget nor hate him. This past month was easier and less agonizing probably because we started talking again, which fulfilled a huge gap in my heart. Sure, we tried to avoid Avery's subject as best as we could but sometimes it still came up and the tension was palpable.

I arrived at Central Park at 2:45 PM because I did not like to be late. Not to mention that I had to avoid Rose before leaving the flat. I knew she wouldn't approve this little meeting, especially after the way she reacted the last time. Things have been a bit complicated between us since that day. She clearly did not understand how I could still talk to Adrian after what he did, but then, she did not know the whole story and was not the one in this situation.

To my utter surprise Adrian was already there, sitting on a bench, his long legs stretched. He was dressed all in black except for the grey scarf he had around his neck. His hair has been cut since the last time and was now in its messy-style that I oh too well remembered. When he noticed my presence he immediately smiled revealing his perfect white teeth and letting his emerald-green eyes sparkled. I couldn't help but smile back.

"Hi." I said shyly, it seemed easier to talk throughout the phone, where I could not see him and his devilish good looks that were quite disturbing.

"Sydney" he let out before hugging me tightly. Well I wasn't expecting this welcome and I sure as hell needed to put some distance but his embrace felt so good and somehow familiar.

"I'm sorry I shouldn't have done that." He abruptly retorted, realizing what he did.

"It's fine." I replied clearing my throat. Who was I kidding? Of course it wasn't fine. It's been almost four months since I haven't had any physical contact with the man that I craved for and who by the way was about to become a dad.

"So, are you still up for a walk or do you want to do something else, go somewhere else…?" he asked hesitantly.

"The walk is fine." I answered, even though it was a cold day. I did not want to be in the same place alone with him. It would be too dangerous.

We then started walking slowly side by side around Central Park. I often came here during spring and summer, and enjoyed the view but now I was too tense to pay any attention to my surroundings.

"So, how did the trial go?" I demanded after a few silent minutes, unable to contain my impatience.

"Well…it went better than I thought, all thanks to my father." He simply replied, hiding his excitement.

"Really?" I exclaimed astonished. Nathan Ivashkov did something good for his son for once. I had a hard time believing it.

"Yes. Actually, we obtained Avery's silence and the right to perform a paternity test before the birth of the child. In exchange my father accepted to drop the charge against Avery's involvement in the stealing of the money in his company." He explained.

"Wow. I wasn't expecting that. But that's good news right." I replied still shocked.

"Yeah! Me too, especially coming from my father." He let out a sigh of relief.

"And when will the paternity test be done?" I demanded curiously.

"Next week. The better the sooner." He answered avoiding my gaze.

We continued walking for a bit, before once again, getting apart. This time Adrian simply gave me a shy kiss on the cheek, that I gave back. Having him near me and yet so far was unbearable. I never admitted it to him but a secret part of me hoped that the baby wasn't his. Because honestly if Avery was actually expecting his child, I did not know how I would manage it. Being away from him was one thing but knowing that he had a child from another woman was another story. I mean how could I keep seeing him? Where our relationship would go? I tried to be strong these past few months and to not think about it but now that he talked about the paternity test, it brought back all my fears. I left him that day even more lost.

On Tuesday's afternoon, I received a text message from Adrian, when I was getting out of college.

 _Can you meet me at my place in an hour? I need to talk to you. It's important please._

I knew what he wanted to talk to me about. The result of the paternity tests has come up today. It was finally time to find out about our eventual future together. I've been nervous all day.

 _I'm on my way._ I replied impatiently and even more tense than before.

"Are you okay?" Eddie who was with me inquired, seeing me fidgeting.

"Yeah. I'm just a little stressed out about the incoming exams." I lied.

"Sydney, the exams are in two months and since I met you, I've never seen you stressed out about exams or whatever works we have to do." Eddie replied casually, ignoring my pout. Crap why did he needed to know me so well.

"It's about Adrian isn't it? Look I am not Rose and I won't judge because you know this all "never judge a situation you've never been in" but you are my friend and I witnessed how miserable you were these last months and I loathed it. Honestly it revolted me and if it wasn't for you pleadings, I would have probably kicked his ass. All I want is for you to be happy because you deserve it Sydney. You are a smart girl I just hope that you know what you're doing and that you will take the right decision." He said deeply.

"Aw Eddie thank you...for everything...I know I do not say it often, but I am grateful to have someone like you in my life. And you also deserve to be happy. I'm sure that one day you will find the one for you." I replied emotionally.

"Come here, Syd." He retorted before taking me into his arms.

I went straight to Adrian's after I left Eddie to work. It only took me 20 minutes from the college to his apartment by cab. I texted him, to let him know that I was in the building and he immediately opened the door. He was wearing a pair of gray sweet pants and a fair blue tee shirt that was smeared with paint, just like his hands actually. His hair was even messier than usual but he still looked handsome. Adrian was this kind of person that could be dress like a scarecrow and still look gorgeous.

"You've been painting?" I asked stupidly.

"Yeah. Usually when I'm painting I lose the notion of time. Sorry I'm covered in paint. Just give me a minute to clean up." He replied while taking off his painted shirt..still in front of me… revealing his perfect chiseled chest. Oh hell no! I bet he was doing that on purpose!

"Or maybe you want to help me clean up." He added smirking.

"What? No!" I babbled blushing and trying to avoid his gaze.

"Another time then." He winked before going to his bedroom. What the hell just happened?

When he came back thankfully clothed with a tee-shirt I was still standing where he left me, with my coat on and my bag on my shoulder.

"Make yourself at ease. You know the house afterall." He said pointing out the sofa, inviting me to sit down.

"I don't have much time, I still have some work to-"

"Come on Sydney, just a few minutes. Let me make you a coffee. Do you want to eat something?" He interrupted.

"Fine, but just a coffee, please." I surrendered.

While Adrian gave me my coffee, I noticed that he was staring at my chest. I had a plain red sweater with a round neck but I acknowledged that the push-bra Rose insisted on buying highlighted my small breasts.

"So...you wanted to talk to me." I said breaking this awkward situation.

"Hum...ah yes." He eventually managed to reply, looking somewhere else.

"Red suits you by the way." He added clearing his throat.

Yeah, I bet it was the color he was looking at. I hid a smile.

"As you know, the paternity test was this morning, and the result came out..." He started

"And...?" I continued hesitantly.

"And...I am...not the father. Sydney I am not going to be a dad! The baby is not mine" He exclaimed joyfully.

"Oh!" I blurted out dumbfounded. He wasn't the father, which meant that... he and Avery had no reason to be together...she was simply his past, just like the other women he had been with that I did not want to know or even meet in my lifetime.

"Oh my God Adrian!" I eventually managed to say after a few seconds, realizing that he wasn't joking.

"I know! That's excellent news right?" He interjected still happily.

"Y-yes!" I stammered. "But...it means that Avery had been cheating on you while you were still together?" I realized horrified.

"I've just told you that I am not going to be another woman's child's father and you are worried that I might be hurt because of that." He laughed dryly.

"For what it's worth Avery could have been sleeping with all the men in the world I wouldn't have given a damn! Sydney...honey...the only woman I care about is you...the only woman who can hurt me is you because...you are the only one that I truly love."

And with these last authentic words his lips crashed on mine. At first only caressing them, a bit unsure, trying to memorize their curves, until I let go and opened my mouth, inviting his tongue in a ravishing and languishing dance that took both our breath away.

"My God Sage how much I've missed that. There are no words, really no words to describe it." He said hoarsely.

"Adrian..." I retorted breathlessly. My mind was still fuzzy about the kiss, after all this time, this waiting, this longing...

"Chuuut..." He stopped me running his thumb on my lower lip. "Listen to me Sydney, I-love -you, no matter what you say or what you do." He articulated each word, his gaze never leaving mine. These gorgeous emerald green eyes were hypnotizing I swore!

"I love you too Adrian." The words escaped my mouth before I had time to process what I've just said aloud. I've just confessed my love to a man and not any man, the one who broke my heart in thousand of pieces.

"You have no idea how many times I've dreamt about this moment. This exact moment where you say that you love me." He stated intensely.

"I love you Adrian" I repeated this time clearer and louder.

"Sydney, will you give this broody sexy idiot a second chance?" Adrian demanded. He was now brushing my hair with one hand and caressing my cheek with the other.

"Of course I will. You are still my husband after all." I replied grinning like an idiot before kissing these soft warm lips that I've been haunting my deepest fantasies for the past months.

 _ **Well, it didn't go that bad afterall right?**_

 _ **Actually I was planning on writing maybe one or two more chapters but I realized that this could be a good ending. What do you think guys? Should I write some more, or stop there?**_

 _ **As always do not hesitate to review.**_

 _ **-K**_


	21. The finale

_**Hey guys,**_

 _ **I wish you all a Happy New Year! May 2017 be full of lovely things for you and your loved ones.**_

 _ **Once again, a huge thank you to the ones who supported me in this story and asked for more.**_

 _ **You wanted it, here it is, enjoy ;-)**_

Adrian's POV

Spring has come and May was passing by. Sydney had finished her semester as well as her school year. She passed all her exams brilliantly (how shocking!) and was ready to start her fourth year next September. Despite her deepest fascinations for Greek and Roman history and architecture, she decided to pursue her medical studies while taking some extra classes on her passions. Yes, some might say that it would be impossible to manage such a huge of work but that would be underestimating my girl or should I more properly say my wife, or even better the love of my life. I believed in her and completely supported her choices.

Since the day she came to my apartment to hear about the results of the paternity test (or in other words since the day I learned that I would not be the father of some crazy mean cheating bitch); we finally and thankfully got back together and Sydney has moved back in my apartment. We found ourselves and had now our little habits. Our friends would come every Friday for a pizza and movie night. On Saturdays we always went out either to a museum, the theater or the swimming-pool, the skating rink... We could say that we were almost like these old couples but obviously younger and sexier. No offense to elderly people of course, it's just that I bet we had more action. (Yes you probably know what I mean.) We still haven't sealed the deal yet, but let's say that we had a lot of fun and things had gotten pretty...hot for instance I was finally able to see Sydney's tattoo and no need to say that I loved it!

As for me, things have been quite well too. First off all, I stopped smoking and drinking again. But more importantly, my muse being back, I had a lot more motivation and inspiration to paint. So much so that I decided to open a new gallery in Los Angeles, which was great not only because it would attract the West Coast upper class but also because it was not far away from my house in Palm Springs and would give us more reason to go there, enjoy the sun and pay visit to Sonya and Mikhaïl. Last month we showed up with Rose, Dimitri, Eddie and my sister and that was an amazing week-end! They all helped me finalized the last details and preparations for the opening that happened to be today.

I was nervous as hell because I was betting on high in this but luckily Sydney was here to assist me. When I saw her for the first time tonight, while waiting for her to leave the house, I was left breathless. She was wearing a long red silk strapless gown and her hair was pinned up in a messy bun with some wild locks caressing her cheeks letting her full neck and shoulders exposed, clearly tempting me. She had put on a pair of golden high stilettos sandals, that matched with her short necklace and earrings. Her gorgeous ocean blue eyes were highlighted by a fine line of black kohl making them look bigger. She didn't usually apply make-up on but when she did, it always looked fantastic on her. This woman was my work of art and I couldn't think of how many ways I would like to draw and paint her.

"You are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen walking this earth." I eventually said after what felt like probably hours of staring. She blushed faintly and smiled shyly. She did that every time I paid her a compliment and I couldn't help myself, so I kissed her. Reluctantly, it was a soft kiss because I did not want to damage her hard make-up work and arrive late at my own opening. "You're killing me Sage." I added huskily, letting go of her sweet lips. They tasted like strawberries, damn if she wasn't a little teaser.

"Wait to see what I have under that dress." she whispered playfully to my ear, her hot breath sending shiver through my entire body. "A little teaser" I said? More like a "big teaser"! Shit, Sydney liked to talk dirty and I wasn't the one who would complain.

Self control was hard during the party, in every sense of the word. But thank God, it eventually was a huge success and everything went well. And now that my relationship with Sydney was stable and Avery's affair forgotten, the paparazzi were less intrusive and only took "nice pictures of us". We have become a loved couple and my reputation of the hot filthy rich bad boy was far away. Sure there were still some of my maddest fans who loathed Sydney as if she was a carrier of the plague, except that she did not pay attention to these silly things. After all she was the one standing by my side, sharing my bed, my house, my life and my heart.

"You were marvelous tonight Adrian. Everyone loved your work!" Sydney exclaimed radiantly, once we were alone and back to our hotel room for the night. It was still warm outside so we were admiring the stars of the dark sky of Los Angeles, seated in a wood bench on the balcony. We were on the top floor so no one could see or disturb us. Yes sometimes money had its advantages, I admitted.

"You weren't that bad either." I replied jokingly. "I remember that everyone has loved that big painting inspired by a sexy blond with gorgeous ocean blue eyes." I stated, kissing her hand that was in mine and looking at her.

"The piece may be good but only a master can change it into a masterpiece." She replied confidently still keeping my gaze.

"What? Have you spent all night thinking about this? Sorry to disappoint you Sydney but your terrible at pun on words." I cackled.

"Eh, that's mean." She retorted and kick my shoulder lightly while laughing too.

I took advantage of this moment to do what I've been dreading to do the entire night. Taking a deep breath, I parted our hands, stood up, took the small box from the inner pocked of my Armani dark gray suit jacket and got down on one knee. I gathered my courage and said yet with a quivering voice.

"Sydney Katherine Sage, would you give me the pleasure of marrying me again? This time with a real wedding where we are both not drunk and fully conscious of what we are doing." I opened the little box containing the ring. This one was much more simpler than the previous one bought in Vegas. I thought this one was more suitable for Sydney. Hell I hoped so because I spent hours choosing it. She gasped and stayed with her mouth opened for God knew how much time (fine it must have been only a few seconds, but that wasn't reassuring at all) before answering.

"Y-y-es." she stammered. "Yes!" She at last responded more confidently and threw herself at me.

"Thank God." I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and hugged her tightly.

"Did you think I was going to say no?" she asked chuckling.

"Well, I was starting to. You did took your time to answer. I don't know you could have gotten tired of me after these past months." I joked.

"I could never get tired of you. Even though sometimes you are bit annoying, I have to say." She passed her arms around my neck and kissed me and this time it was a real kiss. (You know that type of kiss that involves, tongue, teeth, moans, groans and just takes your breath away when you do it with the right person.)

"Now let me take a closer look at that ring." she asked impatiently.

"Here, the green stone that shines is actually an emerald." I explained scholarly. "You often say that my eyes are emerald green so I thought that therefore, every time you would look at it, you would think about me." I added genuinely while shrugging as if it wasn't a big deal.(Who would have thought Adrian Ivashkov was a romantic? Well certainly not me.)

"Oh Adrian that's perfect."

"No, you are perfect." I said before placing the ring on her finger.

And that ladies and gentlemen was the night of our proposal, which happened to be exactly three months ago.

I was now standing in the penthouse of a hotel in Las Vegas to prepare myself for the wedding. I booked the exact same room in the exact same hotel where I met Sydney. (Yes you can say it sounds a bit cliché) and yet it was thanks to Vegas that we've met that's why we decided to get married, or should I say to renew our vows here. Only this time, we organized a real thing from choosing the flowers to the caterer (what a hassle) and obviously invited our friends and family. Since Avery's dilemma things have been "good" with my father, sure he wasn't the father of the year, far from that and it did not erase his past behavior but it was a good start. Besides, to my utter surprise, even Sydney's father accepted to come to the wedding. Their relationship was still tensed but the fact that Sydney wanted to pursue her medical studies helped and secretly I think the bastard is just scared that his wife would leave his poor ass as she had threatened him so many times.

"Are you ready to go Adrian?" Dimitri, who was with me said. We were going to the chapel together since he was my best man.

"I will not start getting cold feet now." I jested, but honestly, I was nervous as hell. My tie felt to tight and drops of sweat were threatening to escape from every pore of my skin, (so handsome!) I think I've never been so stressed out in my life, the opening in Palm Springs seemed like a piece of cake back now. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't getting cold feet about the wedding, damn I wanted to marry Sydney the problem was not there but all this, this... circus...it didn't look like such a great idea after all. I wondered if Sydney was thinking the same thing...

"Come on man, everything is going to be fine. Just breathe. You're about to renew your vows and confess one more time the love you have for the woman of your life in front of all your friends and family. No big deal. It's not as if you don't know how crazy she is about you right!". Dimitri stated and then patted my shoulder amicably.

"Right. Let me just call Jill and we're good to go." I retorted and went towards my sister's room. She was with the girls earlier to help Sydney but came back here to change.

I was about to call her when I noticed that her door was ajar. I slipped myself inside her room and was immediately taken aback by what I witnessed. Jill, my baby sister was in a man's lap, more precisely in Eddie's lap, Sydney and Rose's friend that I identified thanks to his stupid sandy blond hair. They were clearly making out but thank the Lord and all the little angels, they were fully dressed. If no, no amount of therapy would be enough to erase such images from my brain.

"What the hell?" I realized I'd said it aloud when they both jerked away, visibly surprised.

"Adrian?... I...I... didn't hear you coming." My sister eventually croaked out while adjusting her hair and dress.

"Of course, you were clearly too busy!" I yelled.

"It's not what it looked like." Eddie blurted out lamely.

"Oh really? So you weren't sucking each other's faces then!" I glared at Ken boy, seeing red.

"Okay...maybe it's what it looked like but it's no what you think..." He started his new lame excuse when Dimitri popped out.

"Adrian...can we g-." He stopped mid-sentence when he noted the scenario. "Ah shit." he cussed.

"Ah shit! That's all you got to say!" I replied shouting.

"Well.."

"Wait...did you know about these two?" I cut him and focused my look on my friend. The little fucker looked away.

"Goddammit, Dimitri! It's never occurred to you to tell me about it! Who else knows?" My previous nervousness has now changed into wrath.

"Everyone knows Adrian, and maybe if you weren't all eyes on Sydney for every second of every damn day, you would have noticed it too. I'm an adult and I can date whoever I want. I was into Eddie since the day I've met him in your kitchen, so deal with it." My sister asserted boldly. "Now, let's go before you get late for you wedding." she added.

"You're lucky it's my big day but don't think this conversation is over Jillian." I retorted once I've recovered from my jaw dropping state.

On these final words the four of us went to the chapel for the ceremony.

The ceremony was finally over and we were officially married in the eyes of our loved ones. We had a blast. We laughed, we cried, we danced, we ate...any who, everything was perfect, just like the woman I wedded. When she arrived at the altar, I thought I was going to pass out. Truthfully, there were no words to describe how magnificent she was. Her hair, her dress, the smile of her face, the sparkle in her eyes, her promises, her kiss, her tears of joy, her soft touch while she passed the ring on my finger…

We were now back to the hotel after the most beautiful day of our lives, this time in her room, to spend our last night in Las Vegas before heading to Italy for our honey-moon. I was currently laid on my back, my arms behind my head, on the king sized bed, shoeless with my shirt half-opened, waiting for Sydney to get out of the bathroom.

"Are you sure you don't want any help?" I repeated. I was starting to find the time long. I proposed to help her getting out of her wedding dress when we came back but she refused adamantly and rushed towards the bathroom.

"I'm done." She screamed throughout the door. "I'm coming so please close your eyes." I did as she asked.

"You can open your eyes now." She whispered finally getting out of that damn bathroom.

"Holy shit Sage." It was the only thing I could say, because all the blood in my brain has gone south, taking all coherent thoughts with it. Sydney was standing in front of me at the bottom of the bed, only wearing a pair of matching lacy powder blue underwear with the smallest panties I've ever seen, letting clearly nothing to the imagination. Her hair was down falling in cascades past her shoulders (she had let it grow) and I noticed a pair of silver stilettos that emphasized her legs, making them longer.

"Something new and blue" she said pointing at the underwear, "something borrowed" she went on pointing at the high heels and "something old" she finished pointing at the pearl earrings she's worn all the day which belonged to her grandmother from what she told me. "What do you think?" she then asked staying where she was.

"Come here." I tapped the space in the bed near me. "I'll tell you what I think." She executed herself immediately.

"I think..." I put my hands on her bare hips, putting her closer to me. I was enthralled by her vanilla scent and started to kiss her neck "that..." I went on and kissed the hollow between her breasts "you are..." I was kissing her navel now and she gasped. "splendid" I finished my sentence kissing her where I was lusting for.

"Adrian." She moaned my name which made me look up. Then, she took my head in her small hands, putting me at her eye level. "I want you tonight." She murmured softly. Her hands were now working my shirt fully open and my whole body was on fire.

"This does not have to be tonight. Are you sure?" I demanded, still not believing her words. Maybe was I dreaming? (It wasn't as if I hadn't had these kind of dreams about Sydney.) But afterward, she caressed the hard ridges of my stomach with her hands before leading one downer, where I was aching for her and this felt oh too real. "Yes." She confirmed huskily while stroking me and that's all I needed to hear.

"I promise to be gentle." I replied before going down to business. And gentle I was, I kissed and licked every each of my wife's body before making her mine in the most pleasurable way. There were gasps, whimpers, moans, groans, curses, God's name, our respective names... but above all, there was love. It was not only a first time for Sydney but also for me, because for once in my life, I made love instead of fucking.

Later that night, after plausibly our third round (Yes Sydney was "shockingly" a quick learner in...everything) she mumbled a "thank you for having waited for the right moment" before falling asleep in my arms.

I knew what she meant, just like I knew that Sydney needed an "official marriage" to give herself completely to me. You can call her old school if you want, I don't give a shit because I wouldn't love her any other way, and if I thought this day was the most beautiful day of my life I was wrong. No it wasn't even this night the most beautiful...what was beautiful was the woman with whom I spent them. She was the one who made this day and night beautiful and who would make every following day and night beautiful too.

And that's why, I was the luckiest bastard in the world.

 _ **So...what did you think of this one? Was it what you've been expecting?**_

 _ **There were a lot of things in this, I hoped you didn't get lost in the middle of one of them.**_

 _ **I intend to write a final epilogue to this story and I will call it an end.**_

 _ **-K**_


	22. Epilogue

_**5 years later**_

Sydney's POV

"I look fat." I complained for probably the tenth time.

"No you don't. You look pregnant." Adrian retorted while passing his arms from behind around my round belly. I was five months pregnant and truth to be told my belly wasn't that huge from what I'd seen on other women. I knew when I'd decided to get pregnant (it wasn't an unwanted pregnancy) that no matter what I did, I would put on some weight because it was inevitable. Unfortunately, with my weight issues, this was something I still had a hard time accepting. And looking at me in the mirror, dressed in a tight knee-length light blue silk strapless gown that emphasized my obvious big stomach did not help.

"Sage, stop overthinking, pregnant or not, you are still the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on." He kissed my collarbone lightly. "And besides you are carrying my son, who by the way, with our combine beauties will be so handsome that everyone is going to be jealous of him."

"You are very glad that it's a boy aren't you?" I teased already knowing the answer.

"Hell yes! I don't want to end up like Dimitri." he exclaimed chuckling. Rose and Dimitri were the parents of a three year old little girl that was born out of marriage for his mother's greatest despair. But well, times changes and Rose wasn't known for following traditions after all. And yet, they eventually got married on their daughter's first birthday in Dimitri's homeland in Russia. We all had the chance to spend a week which was amazing. Ivanna was the apple of her father's eyes and already gave him a hard time, not only because of her looks, not surprisingly she was gorgeous with her big dark brown eyes and silky curly long black hair just like a mom but also because she was stubborn and fearless. Dimitri was watching his little girl grow up and dreading the day she would become a woman and attract men's gaze. Adrian bet that he will either lock her up until her thirties, or scare the hell out of every man who would dare accost her. And I bet that she will be just like Rose and do whatever she wants.

"It's not because it's a boy that he will do whatever he wants and disrespect women. I want him to be a perfect gentleman." I said honestly.

"Of course he will be a perfect gentleman. Because he will learn how to treat women from the best." Adrian replied, caressing my belly carefully.

"Have you thought about a name yet?" he asked curiously.

"Hum...I like Joshua. What do you think?" I demanded hesitantly.

"Joshua Sage Ivashkov. It sounds great. And we could nickname him Josh." he answered.

"You would like him to have my last name?" I questioned bewildered. When we got married, I officially kept my last name and added Adrian's. But informally, I was Sydney Ivashkov. When Eddie and I opened our doctor's office together, that's to say a year ago after graduating successfully from medical school (plus, a bachelor degree in the History of Architecture for me) Adrian insisted that I used his last name and not mine. According to him "Doctor Ivashkov" would attract more persons even though anyone knew that I was the wife of the most famous artist in the whole USA but above all he said that "Doctor Sage" was "too hot" and would be reserved to our "private appointments". What could I say?

"Yes! It's our son, he belongs to both of us and deserves as much my name as yours." he explained.

"Thank you." I turned my head to the side to kiss him. It started as a gentle kiss, lips against lips but as always Adrian was hungry for more and teeth and tongues became quickly involved. Letting go of my mouth, his hands went to my breasts, which were now bigger and more sensitive since the beginning of my pregnancy.

"Have I told you how much I love your breasts." he groaned. His skillful thumbs brushed my hard nipples. I let out a loud moan. God, a simple touch of his made me all worked up. Pregnancy hormones were too blame, and also probably the fact that I was married to the sexiest guy in the whole world.

"Adrian." I sighed. "We...We're going to be late for your sister's wedding." I croaked out stammering. Today was Jill and Eddie's big day. They've refused to get married until Jill finished her studies in the most prestigious fashion school design. She opened her own shop the same month Eddie and I opened our doctor's office and her business was going pretty good. She had a lot of demands, especially coming from rich actresses, models and singers. She was an artist just like a brother. Needless to say that Adrian had a hard time approving their relationship, especially since he'd found out about it the day of our of wedding (well technically second wedding), meanwhile everyone knew or at least suspected it. Eventually, he faced realities and realized that these two were meant to be together and that Eddie was (shockingly) a genuine charming guy. They made a really nice couple: Eddie the adorable cutie and Jill the easygoing girl.

"Nah! We still have time for a bit of fun." He murmured next to my ear, his hot breath making me shiver everytime. He then nibbled at my earlobe and brought my hips closer to his. I could feel his arousal through the think fabric of my dress and this wasn't helping my already fuzzy brain.

"I spent a ridiculous amount of time to put that dress on. I can't take it off." I whimpered both from pleasure and irritation.

"Oh Sage... who said I needed to take your dress off." he retorted hoarsely. His hands were now under my dress and sliding along my thighs.

"You're terrible." I tried to hide my smile.

"And that's why you love me."

After getting rid of our "sexual thirst" we managed to arrive on time for the wedding. I couldn't help myself from crying when Eddie and Jill were declared husband and wife. Once again blame the stupid pregnancy hormones. Jill was beautiful. Her hair was combed into a neat bun, leaving her sweet face exposed and her eyes, the same green shade as Adrian's looked like two emerald stones emphasized by a smoky eye make up. She wore a well-fitted long lacy and satin creamy gown that underlined her thin tall figure. She made the dress herself as well as her bridesmaids'. They were all satin to match with her own but had different colors. Mine was light blue, Rose's was red, and Lissa's was light green. The boys had a small matching handkerchief signed with their initials pinned to the outside pocket of their jackets.

"You look stunning Jill." I told her later during the reception. Some people were dancing whereas others were still eating. The boys were at the bar, drinking liqueur and chatting and we were left between us.

"Thank you. You don't look bad either." she joked.

"You mean despite my huge belly." I joked back.

"Exactly. I cannot wait to meet my nephew. I have so many baby boy clothes ideas." she retorted enthusiastically.

"Hush. Let him stay in there for a few more months. I'm not ready to get him out yet."

"Oh no you are not." Rose cut out. "Believe me you don't want to think about the delivery."

"Ugh so gross. Remind me to always have safe sex ladies." Jill retorted, a cup of champagne in her hand. When she was a little tipsy she was even more shamelessness.

"Well maybe you should stop drinking champagne." Rose interjected and Lissa and I laughed. "We all know crazy shit can happen when you get drunk, don't we Sydney." She nudged me playfully.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I replied innocently.

"Speaking of champagne. How come you didn't drink any, Rose? Also, you haven't eaten any seafood...and you love it." Jill then asked.

"Well...I can't..."

"Oh my God are you pregnant again?" Jill exclaimed suddenly, linking the dots together.

"I am. But it's been barely three months so if you could not shout it from the rooftops." Rose chimed quietly.

"Congratulations!" I hugged Rose tightly. "You still doesn't know the sex I guess?"

"No it's too soon. But we are hoping for a little guy. Dimitri already has three sisters and now a daughter, I think one more girl and he might die from a heart attack." she chuckled.

"Haha true. Ivanna must be trilled." I asserted.

"She is! She will have someone to play with and take care of." she acknowledged.

"Come on, grab your alcohol-free drink girls and Lissa your cup of champagne. I proposed a toast to...first of all, us beautiful and smart ladies, to our gorgeous husbands, to babies, to success and...last but not least...to love."

"Cheers!" We happily screamed in unison, our glasses clinging.

Life couldn't get any better. I had a job that I loved, a nice house, good friends, and I was caring the child of the man I've loved more than anything, my partner in life, my soulmate,my other-half, the one and only Adrian Ivashkov.

And of all this thanks Las Vegas baby!

 _ **And this is it guys. After almost a year, I call it an end. When I started writing this story I've never thought I would get this far. But your support helped me a lot. So once again thank you for all the persons who stick with me despite my late updates, and took the time to review. I hope you've had fun reading this story and loved it as much as I did.**_

 _ **All the best guys. And see you for further stories.**_

 _ **\- Katie**_


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